| Broken colored horses are associated in the popular | | | | and what all the fuss is about. In general, paint horses |
| imagination with the old American west. In particular, | | | | are bi-colored horses, having a coat that is a mixture |
| they are associated with Native Americans, with | | | | of white patches and patches of another colour. This |
| whom they were a popular choice, as the pattern of | | | | should not be confused with the color known as roan, |
| broken colors made the horses hard to see, either | | | | where individual white hairs are interspersed with either |
| during a hunt or during war. | | | | chestnut (red roan) or black/grey (blue roan). |
| Broken colored horses - also known as pintos - | | | | A horse with black and white patches is often |
| continue to be popular today, both in the American | | | | referred to as a "piebald" and a horse with patches of |
| west and around the world. However, even though | | | | white and another color is known as a "skewbald." |
| "pinto" is the Spanish word for "paint", pinto horses are | | | | The most common patch colors in skewbalds are |
| not quite the same thing as paint horses. | | | | brown and chestnut, but patches of palomino (gold) |
| To be registered with the American Paint Horse | | | | and buckskin are also possible. |
| Association (APHA), a horse must not only have the | | | | Among paint horses, further distinctions are made, |
| classic broken-colored coat, it must also have either | | | | tobiano and overo being the main ones. A horse |
| the sire or the dam registered as an American Paint | | | | classified has a tobiano is predominantly dark on the |
| Horse and have Quarter Horse or Thoroughbred blood | | | | belly and neck with the white markings being smaller, |
| somewhere in its background, Quarter Horse for | | | | while an overo is the reverse. Paint horses are often |
| preference. | | | | bred for the beauty of their markings. |
| Thus, while all paint horses are pintos, not every pinto is | | | | Why choose a paint horse? As they have Quarter |
| a paint horse - for example, a chestnut-and-white | | | | Horse ancestry, paint horses can take on a number of |
| Shetland pony, while it certainly fits the description of a | | | | working roles with ease. They make excellent mounts |
| pinto, is not a paint horse. The same is also true, for | | | | for stock work, combining beauty with practicality, and |
| obvious reasons, for parti-colored donkeys and mules. | | | | perform well on the rodeo circuit in cutting competitions |
| Appaloosa horses, while they were also developed by | | | | and barrel racing. |
| Native American tribes for a similar purpose, are not | | | | Paint horses also make good trail horses or general |
| classified as pintos, even though an Appaloosa can do | | | | hacks. They also do well in the show ring, their |
| much of the work that a paint can. The Appaloosa | | | | distinctive coats making them particularly eye-catching. |
| spots and "blanket pattern" are unique to that breed | | | | And, of course, many are kept as companion animals |
| alone. The same applies to other spotted breeds. | | | | by those who admire the beauty and history of the |
| Those not familiar with the term "paint horse" or "pinto" | | | | breed. |
| may be uncertain as to what the terms actually mean | | | | |