Pinto horses

Profile: Although spotted horses seem to have originated with American Indian horses, the distinctive two-toned coat pattern probably came to North America through Arabian and Spanish stock that accompanied early explorers. Early American Indians preferred the spotted color and bred horses specifically for this characteristic. Western settlers later bred their own horses to Indian ponies out of necessity, which also perpetuated the coloring. The Pinto and Paint are often lumped together as the same breed; however, the American Paint Horse must have original stock horse blood (American Quarter Horse or Thoroughbred parentage); the Pinto is a color breed, and horses can be of any parentage as long as coat requirements are fulfilled.

Characteristics: There are four types of Pintos: Stock (Quarter Horse type conformation); Hunter (predominantly Thoroughbred, Racing Quarter Horse or warmblood conformation); Pleasure (Arabian or Morgan conformation); and Saddle (Saddlebred, Hackney or Tennessee Walking Horse conformation). There are also two types of coat colors: tobiano (a white horse with large patches of color over the entire body); and overo (a colored horse with uneven white markings on its sides). Heights range according to type, including miniature.

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