Special Sub-Topic: The American Paint/Pinto Horse Click Here To Play: The American Paint/Pinto Horse

The Paint (American Paint Horse Association) can come in every color and coat pattern.

False. The Paint can come in every color but spotted, Appaloosa style. The base colors can range from white (with some patterns) to grulla, to gray, to chestnut, to black and all the in-between colors. There's no limit to what the base color can be.

Can a horse be registered with the American Paint Horse Association as a Paint if it's solid colored?

Yes. A solid colored horse may be registered as a Paint (called a Solid-bred Paint) if both parents are registered Paints. The registration costs less, and there are less classes in APHA shows for a Solid-bred Paint. The lineage is the same, the only thing that's missing is the flashy coloring. Many people (breeders and owners of Solid-bred Paints) are arguing whether a SBP should be able to show in the same classes with Paints. As of March 2007, it's still undecided.

Which of these is not a coat pattern according to the APHA?

Skewbald. The APHA recognizes three patterns: tovero, overo and tobiano. The tobiano: "Generally, the spots are regular and distinct as ovals or round patterns that extend down over the neck and chest, giving the appearance of a shield. Head markings are like those of a solid-colored horse--solid, or with a blaze, strip, star or snip." The overo: "Generally, the white is irregular, and is rather scattered or splashy. Head markings are distinctive, often bald-faced, apron-faced or bonnet-faced." The tovero: "Dark pigmentation around the ears, which may expand to cover the forehead and/or eyes. One or both eyes blue. Dark pigmentation around the mouth, which may extend up the sides of the face and form spots." The Pinto Horse Association only recognizes Tobiano and Overo.

A Paint (APHA) cannot be what breed?

American Saddlebred. To be a registered Paint (with APHA), a horse must have either Paint, Quarter Horse or Thoroughbred bloodlines. Other breeds that have Paint colorings, such as Tennessee Walking Horses, American Saddlebreds and Miniature Horses, can be registered with the Pinto Horse Association.

There are four divisions of the APHA: hunter, pleasure, stock and saddle.

False. The Pinto Horse Association recognizes four types of horse, saddle, pleasure, stock and hunter. The APHA pushes toward stock types, such as the American Quarter Horse, which is why most Paints excel in Western riding.

From the founding of the American Paint Stock Horse Association, the aim of the Association was to preserve what type of horse?

Stock. According to www.apha.com, "this group was dedicated to preserving both color and stock-type conformation—the American Paint Stock Horse Association (APSHA)."

The American Paint Horse Association is a result of the merging of the American Paint Stock Horse Association and what other Association?

American Paint Quarter Horse Association. The APSHA merged with the APQHA to form the American Paint Horse Association. According to www.apha.com "in Abilene, Texas, a group of struggling spotted-horse lovers had organized the American Paint Quarter Horse Association. This group was never able to gather momentum, so it struggled along for two or three years before approaching APSHA about a merger. After lengthy and heated debate, members of both groups were able to reach an agreement in May of 1965 and the consolidation resulted in the American Paint Horse Association. The old group with the new name now had 1,300 members and 3,800 registered horses."

The Paint was favored by many tribes of Native Americans.

True. Many tribes favored "loud" colored horses, including the Comanche. According to the International Museum of the Horse, in Kentucky Horse Park: "Descended from horses introduced by the Spanish conquistadors, Paints became part of the herds of wild horses that roamed the Western deserts and plains. Once domesticated, because of their working ability and heart, the Paint was cherished by cowboys for cattle work. Native Americans revered the Paint, which they believed to possess magical powers."

Can a pinto horse of unknown breeding be registered with the Pinto Horse Association?

Only with mares and geldings. According to www.pinto.org "For minis and ponies, we can register mares, geldings, AND stallions with unknown parents. Just put Unknown/Unknown for the sire and dams names on the application. The registration fee is based upon the age. For horses, we can register only mares and gelding on their color alone. The registration fee for horses with unknown parentage is $100 no matter what the age. We CANNOT register stallion HORSES without both parents being registered horses."

Both APHA and PHA require visual proof for what identifying factor?

The amount of white. Both associations require visual proof, either in photographs (the PHA only accepts photographs) or an inspection of the horse because "the major requirements for registration in the APHA is a minimum amount of white, each horse must be "seen" by Registration Department personnel." All of my info came from the following sites: http://www.pinto.org/faqs.html http://www.kyhorsepark.com/imh/bw/paint.html http://www.apha.com/breed/regguide03.html And the magazine Horse & Rider, March 2007, page 66 "A Breed Apart" by Juli S. Thorson about Solid-bred Paints.