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Paint
Best known for their two-tone coats, Paints are American-bred stock horses.
This horse's coat is "tobiano," a white-and-dark pattern with sharp, distinct markings. Paints are used for ranch work and trail riding. In rodeos, they excel in cutting, roping, reining, and barrel racing.
Height: 14-17 hh (horse hands)
Color: Tobiano, Overo
Body Type: Light
This breed comes from...
Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska
Explore the traits of this breed!
SIDE VIEW
Look at its strong pectoral muscles. This trait helps it make quick turns on the range and in competition.
At the withers, this horse is 16 h (5 ft 4 in, 163 cm) high.
Paints have a pattern of white markings on a darker base coat. This horse's base coat is sorrel.
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FRONT and BACK VIEW
The legs of tobianos are usually white.
Look at how the darker base coat extends down the neck and chest, creating a shield shape. It is a common feature of tobianos.
Did you know that the head of a tobiano is the color of the base coat? It may have a white blaze or stripe.
This horse's patterning extends to its two-tone tail.
Look at its well-muscled hindquarters. It is a common trait of stock horses. It gives them powerful acceleration and good speed over short distances.
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The Paint Story
Paints are believed to be descendants of patterned horses brought to the Americas by Spanish conquistadors. These two-tone horses were bred by both the Plains Indians and settlers of the West. They were ridden to herd cattle and hunt buffalo, and also used as pack horses.
In the 1960s, the American Paint Horse Association was established to preserve and promote the breed. According to the association's regulations, the parents of Paint horses must be registered as Paints, Quarter Horses, or Thoroughbreds.
Appaloosa | Arabian | Belgian Draft | Connemara | Dutch Warmblood | Friesian | Haflinger | Hanoverian | Icelandic Horse | Lusitano | Miniature Horse | Morgan | Oldenburg | Paint | Percheron | Quarter Horse | Selle Français | Thoroughbred
Credits:
All images, © AMNH