Breed Closeup

THE COLORFUL WORLD OF PAINTS & PINTOS
by Janet Piercy



Introduction

here's no doubt about it­I have a THING for spots...I LOVE them! When I was younger I used to breed spotted mice, then I went on to spotted guinea pigs; I also owned a spotted cockatiel and a spotted boa constrictor. Someday I'd like to breed Japanese Bobtail cats and I love Harlequin Great Danes. (Both spotted, of course.) But without a doubt, my utmost favorite spotted animal are those lovely pied horses. I love Appaloosas, but they just can't hold a candle to the beautiful Paints and Pintos; someday I plan to breed Paints and my dream is to own a very flashy overo mare who I'll breed every other year.

Being a Paint/Pinto nut has made me pretty knowledgeable over the years. Within the model horse hobby I have noticed a lot of confusion concerning the differences between Paints and Pintos, and just as much if not more confusion understanding the differences between the spot patterns. I hope that by the end of these two articles I will have answered any questions you might have on these colorful horses. The following article will explain the differences between Paints and Pintos; the second article will cover a detailed description of pinto patterns and should clear up many common misconceptions associated with each type.

Photo Credit
Armstrong's Affairah & Armstrong's Sassy Savior Faire, grulla tovero Anglo-Arapinto mare customized from the Breyer Classic Kelso and her daughter, a grulla overo Arapinto filly customized from the Breyer Classic Arabian Foal and owned by Sarah Minkiewicz


Part One: The Breeds

The History of the Paint Horse

aints were recognized as an American breed in 1965. The American Paint Horse Association was formed in hopes of preserving and breeding more of these quality horses, which sometimes appeared in the Quarter Horse and (rarely) Thoroughbred breeds. Occasionally, 'crop out' babies were produced with too much white to be registered. Most crop outs were sold off as grade horses with little, if any value. But once in a while a rare crop out foal was born with fabulous spots; my favorite example is the beautiful stallion, Our Sir Prize. This 'loud' (lots of spots) overo's sire and dam were both registered Quarter Horses.

Crop outs occurred enough that a registry was formed in 1965 to preserve these wonderful "Quarter Horses with spots". The American Paint Horse Association was established in 1965, a merger of two earlier clubs formed in 1961 and 1962, The American Paint Stock Horse Association & The American Paint Quarter Horse Association.

Photo Credits
Top: Our Sir Prize, a frame-overo Quarter Horse crop out, the very type of horse that helped bring the American Paint Horse Association into being.

Bottom: Tri Chrome, a very rare crop out Thoroughbred!


Crop outs

ccasionally two solid colored horses produce a foal which for some strange reason is born with spots. These horses are called 'crop outs' because of the extra white patches that appear on their bodies, faces and legs. Most have only minimal to moderate spotting such as very high leg markings, excessive white on the face, and/or a spot or two on the belly. However, once in a great while a rare foal is born with 'loud', wild spotting, such as Our Sir Prize or Limited Edition. Although purebred Quarter Horses by pedigree, it's hard to believe by looking at these two!

Most crop outs occur when a stallion and mare are bred who both have excessive white, such as a blaze and four stockings. Resulting foals often have 'high whites', or markings too high on one or more legs, rendering the foal ineligible for registration as a Quarter Horse. Occasionally this sort of cross results in a foal with a patch of white on the belly ranging in size between a quarter and a dinner plate; these horses generally also have excessive white on the face, enveloping the muzzle or eyes. Sometimes the spot(s) appear on the barrel or neck, but producing a well-spotted crop out by breeding solid horses together is rare.

Photo Credits
Top: Limited Edition, an extreme sabino Quarter Horse crop out registered as an overo

Bottom: Grand Time, a more typical Quarter Horse crop out


Paint Horses Today

orses accepted for registration in the APHA result from these combinations only: Paint x Paint, Paint x QH, Paint x TB, QH x QH, TB x TB, or QH x TB. Purebred Quarter Horses or Thoroughbreds are welcomed into the APHA registry as long as the horses have enough white to meet minimum color requirements. The Jockey Club does not discriminate against white, so Thoroughbreds with enough white to be registered in the APHA can also be double-registered in the Jockey Club.

The APHA is an association committed to breeding quality horses--not merely horses with spots--and because they are more concerned about the quality of an individual as opposed to the spots on its body, many horses registered in the APHA are actually solid or nearly so. Many people are infuriated when solid horses win National Championships 'masquerading' as Paint horses, but one must stop and ask, "Is it right to penalize a Paint-bred horse with superior conformation just because it wasn't born with lots of spots?" The ethics that surround this issue are so deep and multi-faceted that it's impossible for the APHA to make a ruling to please the entire industry.

The majority of Paint horses are shown in Western events; breeders take great pride in producing superior cutting, roping and pleasure horses, but there are also many breeders who produce fine English eventing, dressage and harness horses. Thoroughbred blood has turned Paint horse racing into a very big industry over the years and it grows bigger with each passing season.

Photo Credits
Top: Wedel's Two Moons, a perfect example of a nearly solid tobiano where there's no question about what breed the horse is! One of my favorites!

Bottom: Boston Classic, a perfect example of a textbook tovero: wild face markings and lacy edges of an overo, combined with a mostly tobiano pattern! Another one of my favorites!


Pinto Horses and Ponies

he word 'pinto' means mottled or pied, so all horses with spotted coats are called pintos. Although technically Appaloosas are pintos, their spotting patterns are very different and therefore referred to as appaloosa coloring.

In the United States, there are two pinto registries, the American Paint Horse Association (APHA) and the Pinto Horse Association of America (PtHA). One main difference between the two registries is that the APHA will only accept spotted horses with Paint, Quarter Horse or Thoroughbred breeding, while the PtHA allows registration of spotted horses and ponies of many breeds.

Another clear distinction between the APHA and the PtHA is the registration policy. The PtHA allows only obvious pintos for registration, regardless of breeding, while the APHA grants registration to many horses without spots or without being obviously spotted, but they're strict about bloodlines. Therefore, all Pintos with Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred breeding could be double-registered as Paints, but a very large number of Paints could never be registered as Pintos.

Because the PtHA accepts so many kinds of spotted horses and ponies, the registry has two divisions­pinto horses and pinto ponies; these divisions are further split into four types­stock, hunter, pleasure and saddle types.

The breeds listed here to define each type are mentioned only as guidelines; many other breeds are accepted for registration.

Pinto horses

Pinto Ponies

Photo Credits
Top: Deca Dance, silver dapple tobiano Saddlebred stallion customized from the Breyer Stud Spider originally by Ed Gonzalez, and then completely redone (no Ed left) by Sarah; owned by Ann Bilon

Bottom: Armstrong's Jester Brat, bay tobiano Shetland Pony stallion customized from the Cloudside Shetland by owner Janet Piercy


Crop Outs and Solid Paints: A Question of Ethics

ne of the biggest controversies within the Paint horse industry is the spotted horse issue. Bringing this topic up in a group of breeders will get everyone's feathers ruffled in no time.

Because the breed is relatively new, the APHA has an 'open book' and, as was mentioned above, accepts Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds for registration if they meet minimum breed qualifications. This means that most horses with too much white to be registered as a QH or TB can be registered as a Paint. The majority of these horses don't have spots, just excessive leg markings and/or face markings. They're accepted for registration only to infuse high quality bloodlines before the breed is established enough to close to outside breeds.

Turning the attention towards spots, most people aren't aware that except for certain tobianos, pinto patterns cannot be 'fixed', meaning there's no guarantee that breeding two spotted horses will produce a spotted baby. Because of this, hundreds of solid Paints are born every year. Although they aren't spotted, they're allowed registration in APHA's appendix or Breeding Stock registry; these horses are restricted from showing with horses in the regular registry, but they can advance into the regular registry after a period of time.

Owners of these solid horses want to show and breed them, for good reason. Many crop out Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds have world-class breeding and often have incredible conformation and talent to match. Moreover, the money invested to produce such horses is usually very high and owners want what they paid for­horses that will win and return the investment. It's reasonable to assume that these people didn't invest their money to get a Paint horse, so it's understandable that they'd want a return on their ex-Quarter Horse or Thoroughbred; those who spent a lot of money and time in breeding their quality mare, only to get a solid Paint foal are equally tenacious about getting some sort of return.

This is where the hackles start to rise. Many in the Paint horse industry believe that solid Paints and minimally-marked crop outs should not be granted registration papers or any showing rights, even when their own horses sometimes produce these solid babies. They don't want to see them in the show ring and heaven forbid they should be advertised as breeding stock. The opinion goes that there are enough colored Paints out there that solids should not be allowed in.

On the other hand, opponents argue that their horses are registered and therefore have the right to be shown, even if they're appendix-registered. They consider the horses valuable breeding stock because not only do these horses have the genes to produce spots or the extra white to help. Even though they're not spotted, these horses can enhance the breed by offering excellent bloodlines, conformation, talent, and genes to produce the kind of horses the APHA is aiming for­spotted horses that have the conformation to win at halter, speed to win races, talent to cut a cow on a dime, and an easy-going temperament to win any pleasure or hunting event.

The argument is a good one. It sits on a two-sided ethical question­should minimally-marked white QH/TB crop outs and solid horses produced within the breed be supported, encouraging the practice to continue, yet (possibly) diluting the spotting genes with every outside breeding? Or should these horses be culled and turned away, returning the breed to its original purpose and relying on its high-quality stock of present day to carry the breed forth, even though every solid horse or crop out produced essentially becomes a waste of money, time and effort? If that were the case, would the breed suffer in conformation/temperament quality for the sake of those all-important spots?

Unfortunately, there's no simple answer to this discomforting question, although many possible solutions have been tossed around.

Photo Credits:
Top: Paint a Star, a purebred Quarter Horse crop out with a white spot on his belly; winner of multiple championships

Bottom: Scribble Me Too, daughter of a very loud overo Paint sire and Quarter Horse dam; winner of multiple championships


On to Paints & Pintos: Part 2