I think most people agree that pinto-colored Paints are still Paints and are also pintos.
My point is that most people don’t refer to their horse as a color. They refer to it as a breed. So calling a horse “my pinto horse” is the same as saying “my chestnut horse” or whatever. Which I do, when talking to people who don’t know the difference. But never to other horse people. That would sound stupid to say “my chestnut horse is a hard keeper.” Instead of saying “my TB mare is a hard keeper.” Her color has nothing to do with it.
I haven’t really looked at any other ones. I believe most of the stock horse registries are fairly accurate in regards to the differences between roan and grey.
I’d just find it odd to refer to your registered paint horse as a pinto, unless you didn’t want people to know it was a paint?
To confuse things even more, a solid Paint can get regular registry papers, and compete in regular classes, under a rule passed a couple of years ago. The solid horse needs a Paint trait, like a pink snip on the chin or dark spots inside a white stocking, and a genetic test to prove it carries a coat pattern gene, to get full registration.
@Paint_Party Those solid horse being equal to a colored horse, competed as a “horse of color” are bad for the breed. Appaloosa had that type Rule years ago, but “I think” they changed back so horses had to have color to compete as Appaloosas in Appy classes. There was MUCH disgust and uproar at the big Appy Show when almost every first place in an Appaloosa Class was a solid color, under QH Judges, years ago.
I love Appys, but without color they are “just horses” to an observer. Nothing special. Paints are the same, needing a splash or two of contrast color on the body, upper legs, to mark them as Paints.
But they aren’t just a horse of colour, it’s a breed with colour. Some white patterns minimally express, or don’t at all, like splash and frame, even some tobianos are so minimally marked that unless you recognize the difference in the leg markings, you wouldn’t know it had a colour gene. That doesn’t make it a solid. Some of the white is in a location you can’t see unless you get down on your knees, but fits in the white requirements. Even sabino (SB1) can express in odd ways along with the other W genes. Those horses IMHO deserve to show with their more brightly marked cousins.
I’ve never really liked the SPB rule, especially after learning more about white patterns and how they present or don’t depending on the toss of the coin on a breeding. Now that the technology is available to map the genetics, I’m all for horses that test with a white gene showing in the colour classes.
I believe this is where the APHA is coming from. Plus, if you read the linked article, not that many SPBs have met the requirements.
There’s a filly in my trainer’s barn. Her dam was a wildly colored overo, but the filly is solid chestnut, except for a white star and one hind stocking. But inside that white stocking are several chestnut “dots.” And she has a significant pink snip on her otherwise gray lower lip. Those are both Paint traits. She was recently genetically tested and she carries the overo gene. It’s just minimally expressed. So she now has full registration and can compete in the regular classes.
(Apologies for riding this thread down a spotted/not spotted rabbit hole)
It was helpful to me to get some understanding of the genetic basics of coloration of horses. Because the common names for colors are confusing as heck.
Paint and pinto are a case in point. There are several different genes that can create splotches. In North America we call those splotched horses pintos; in the UK, piebald or skewbald. Then there’s the registry for such horses, which was formed by those who wanted to make a club for splotched horses of Quarter Horse ancestry, which was then dubbed Paint with a capital P. Eh.
Humans are attracted to different and shiny visuals, and they love to name those attractive unusual colors with romantic names like silver dapple and smoky cream. But they all are genetically black or red with various genetic dilutions etc.
It drives me crazy when people call my pinto mare a Paint. Even though she is indeed part Paint, she is not registered with the APHA and is therefore not a Paint horse. When I registered her for USEA competitions, “pinto” wasn’t even a color option but “paint” was. It changed recently so now you can put “pinto” as your horse’s color, thank goodness!
Non sequitor.
My palomino TB x QH was not registered with the Palomino Horse Association, but that didn’t stop him being a palomino.
Your horse may not be a Paint with a capital “P” but she is is definitely a “paint” with a small “p”. ESPECIALLY if she is an eventer. The term “pinto” is traditionally reserved for Western horses (because it comes from Spanish).
The word “paint” is a direct translation of Spanish “pinto”. Small p. Applies to any splotched horse in North America in my opinion, since I don’t hear piebald applied much. Capital P Paint is a registry with specific ancestry requirements and color requirements.
Also in my opinion, I think color registries are stupid, for two reasons. One, because of the naming confusion they cause – it just makes me crabby to try to explain it when I don’t even agree with the premise – and two, because I don’t think any animal should be selected for breeding based on what frickin color they are. It is shallow, and breeding decisions should never be based on superficial qualities. It is also directly destructive in many instances because there are often genetically deleterious effects attached to unusual colors, which is why they are unusual in the first place.
edited to add: I am really cranky this morning because the snow was so deep I had to dig a path through the drifts so my pony could get to her feed station and then I couldn’t close the gate between Boss Mare and her because it was drifted deep in snow so I had to fight my horse off and that spooked my easily-disturbed pony who then refused to eat anything and the whole thing was very tiring.
I agree about the color “breeds,” fledermaus. But I hope people aren’t lumping Appaloosas in with color breeds. They certainly are a breed unto themselves. They have the striped hooves, white sclera around the eyes, often sparse mane and tail. They are descended from Knabstruppers (I believe, correct me if I’m wrong) and Spanish horses brought to North America. The Nez Perce tribe has long bred them and kept careful records. (They also breed Akhal-Tekes). So, while color is a big part of the Appaloosa, they definitely are not a color breed.
It changed recently so now you can put “pinto” as your horse’s color, thank goodness!
