PALOMINO / PAINT

Characteristic of a distinctive coloration type of show or saddle horse. The coat is yellowish and the mane and tail are silver or white. Some degree of white marking on the face and legs is also allowed by registries. As the offspring do not necessarily show the same color pattern, the palomino is not a true horse breed, although there is a Palomino Horse Association. Palominos may also conform to the standards for the Arabian or the American quarter horse.

Also called pinto, breed of horse with spotted coloring. The paint played a large role in the early North American West. It descended from Andalusian horses, which Spanish conquistadors brought to the Americas in the 16th century. The name comes from the Spanish pintado, meaning painted, and cowboys simply called this horse the paint. The paint has a powerful, compact body. It stands about 142 to 158 cm (about 56 to 62 in, or 14 to 15.5 hands) high at the withers (the high part of the back, located between the shoulder blades). The well-muscled legs and the back are short, and the chest is wide and deep. The head is straight with a wide face and medium-sized ears. Because it lacks uniform physical characteristics, the paint is not regarded as a true breed despite similarities among individual horses. However, the paint is considered a color breed because the primary feature that distinguishes this horse is its color pattern. It appears with either of two types of coloring: overo, a solid-colored coat with large, uneven patches of white all over the body; or tobiano, a white coat with large, uneven patches of solid color. The American Paint Horse Society registers western stock horses with paint coloring, primarily the quarter horse. The Pinto Horse Association registers painted horses of any type. After Spanish conquistadors brought horses to North America, Native Americans captured spotted horses from these settlers. Those spotted horses eventually developed into the paint. Many Native American tribes especially the Plains peoples valued the paint for its decorative-looking coat, as cowboys did later. Plains peoples also appreciated the paint because it blended with the surrounding habitat. Modern day breeding programs have developed the paint as a versatile horse for herding cattle, recreational riding, and show competition.

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