Paint

American Paint Horses are required to have bloodline and distinctive body types by the registry.  A paint must come from horses that are registered with either the American Paint Horse Association, the Jockey Club, or The American Quarter Horse Association.  Paint horses are intelligent and versatile, beautiful and very athletic.  Although they are a light horse breed, paints are quite muscled and stockier.  They are refined, and carry their head and neck with elegance despite being short-coupled.  The color patterns are what visually distinguish a paint horse from other breeds.  There is a very unique combination of white and another color from the equine rainbow. 

Sometimes, people mistakenly refer to pinto horses as paint horses.  The difference is that Pinto's can actually be any breed and Paints are registered with the American Paint Horse Association and must be able to prove their parentage to one of the three previously mentioned registries, in addition to meet minimum color requirements.

Paint horses are categorized by color patterns:

Tobiano Pattern:  horses have head marketings like solid colored horses.  For example, they may have a solid color head, or a head with a blaze, star, or stripe.  All four of a tobiano's legs are usually white below the knees.  Spots are oval or round and tails are usually a solid color.

Overo Pattern: horses are either white or predominantly dark.  The white will not cross the back of the horse between the horses tail and withers.  At least one, but often all 4 lets will be dark colored.  The markings are usualy scattered and the tail is typically a single color.