A Brief Overview of the American Paint Horse

The history of the American Paint Horse is long and complicated, but it is believed that the first of the breed were brought over in 1519 by Spanish explorer Hernando Cortes. At least two of the horses on his ship were described as having paint horse-like markings. By the early 1880s, these loud-colored, spotted horses were plentiful on the plains of the American West, both wild and tame. They were favorite mounts for the Comanche Indians as bore out by the paintings of them on buffalo robes that served as records for them. Throughout the 1800s and late into the 1900s, these spotted horses were called by a variety of names: pinto, paint, skewbald, piebald.

It wasn't until the 1950s, when the wild horses of the West were facing extinction, that efforts began to be made in earnest to preserve the spotted horses. That was when the Pinto Horse Association was established, but this association focuses only on coloring. In 1962, the American Paint Stock Horse Association was formed. The horses registered with it not only had to be spotted but also meet qualifications pertaining to stock horse breeding. About this time, another group of people formed the American Paint Quarter Horse Association, but when it could not gain momentum, it merged with the American Paint Stock Horse Association in May 1965. Together these became the American Paint Horse Association (APHA) which is still in existence today.

Paint patterns come in three distinct forms-Tobiano, Overo, and Tovero (for explanation of these patterns, see the APHA website: www.apha.com/). These occur with every conceivable color as can be found in horses, even rarer colors. The APHA does accept solid paint breeds (or those with the necessary pedigree but without spotted or patterned coats) for registration, primarily to keep accurate breeding records. These are usually known as Breeding Stock horses.

Today, he paint horse is usually used for shows or pleasure riding, though a few continue to be used in ranch work. They are generally easy to train, gentle, intelligent, and hardy. They continue to be favorites for their flashy beauty and easy movement.