Amitola Pinto Arabians

Paints Vs Pinto’s

What is the difference between a paint horse a pinto horse? Simply put, when someone talks about a Paint horse, they are talking about a breed. But when someone talks about a pinto horse, they are talking about a colour.

The Paint Horses Association of Australia is a breed registry. To register a Paint horse you have to be able to prove that your horse's sire and dam have Quarter Horse, Thoroughbred, or Paint Horse bloodlines. In Australia the majority of Paint horses have a specific stock-type body type and are closely related to the Quarter Horse. While in the show ring Paints have a strict measurement for their colours and markings, Paint horses aren't always coloured. Despite being selectively bred for colour some turn out solid (a single colour) but may still carry the genes needed to have coloured offspring. The Paint Horse Association has a special "breeding stock" division for Paint Horse who lack pinto colouring, these horses are often called solids. It has become a bit of a controversy as the whether solid “paints” should be able to compete against coloured paints in shows.

Pinto horses, however, may be of any breed or type, because the word "Pinto" simply refers to colour. An Arab, for example, may be a Pinto, but could never be a Paint. Pinto horses come in all shapes and sizes. Originating from American Wild Horse stock, the Pinto is some what looser in it’s definition of breed characteristics though these are gradually tightening with selective breeding and stud book registration requirements. The Pinto is generally not as solid as the Paint with it’s Quarter Horse bloodlines. A colour-based registry has opened for Pinto horses. Instead of breeding being the qualifier for registry, colour is. Like the Paint, the pinto has a number of main descriptors and may fall into categories like ‘Pleasure type’, ‘Stock type’, or ‘Pinto pony type’. The true advantage to a Pinto is that you can blend the desirable traits of other breeds with the possibility of maintaining paint colours.

Pinto Types

There are four main types of Pinto/Paint as well as one cross type, they are:

Tobiano (like Apache), Overo, Sabino and Splash White as well as Tovero which is a combination of Tobiano and Overo characteristics.

Tobiano is the most common pinto pattern and you've probably seen many of them. Tobiano is a dominant pattern, which means that breeding two Tobianos will usually result in a spotted foal; in addition there are some Tobianos which are homozygous, Chaska is one such mare, which means all breedings from this horse will result in a paint colour foal. Testing has been developed and for a moderate price, around $75.00 a breeder can determine whether or not a particular Tobiano horse is homozygous or not. This is exciting news for those people who want a guaranteed coloured foal!

 There are several distinctive characteristics of a Tobiano:

• Tobianos are most often dark colours, bay or black.
• Tobianos almost always have a 'war shield' spot of colour over the chest and shoulders plus a spot on each flank; occasionally only one flank spot is seen and very rarely, none.
• All Tobianos have four white legs.
• Tobianos usually but not always have facial markings like a solid horse star, stripe, snip, etc.
• Most Tobianos have mixed white and collared manes and tails or one of the two.
• The spots usually have even, non-jagged edges. They're usually smoother looking than Overo patterns but this isn't always the case.
• Almost all Tobianos have white extending over the backbone.

Overo (like Takota) In Paint breeds the Overo is the most common and desirable form of patterning. In the Pinto breeds the Overo is much less common than Tobianos, and the reason lies in the nature of the spotting pattern. In the past, it was thought that the reason there are less Overos than Tobianos was because the Overo gene was recessive. This means that breeding two Overos together would not guarantee an Overo foal. However, it is now thought that the Overo pattern is actually dominant like Tobiano. The negative to breeding Overo coloured horses is that while minimally marked Tobianos are almost always recognisable, minimally coloured Overos generally look like other solid coloured breeds. Since Overos are less common, they're usually everyone's favourite, and as a result have become the selectively bred form of most paint horses.

 Overos also have their own set of distinctive characteristics:

• Ninety-nine percent of all Overos have solid colour over the backbone from the withers to the tail bone.
• The majority of Overos display a wonderful case of the 'zigzag’s' and have ragged edged spots that often have lots of tiny flecks of colour or white nearby the edgings.
• Many Overos look as if their white spots spread from the belly up to the back.
• These horses are known for having wild facial markings such as ­bonnet, apron and bald faces constitute a good ninety percent of all Overos it is hard to find one with the normal star, strip or snip. Many Overos also have 'beauty spots', which are little spots on the muzzle or lips.
• Most Overos have solid manes and tails. Occasionally an Overo will have white in its mane where a spot crossed over the neck, but only rare individuals will have wild half and half manes like Tobianos.
• Also, Overos are very often a mixture of more than one type of Overo pattern: frame, Sabino, and splash white; all it takes is an experienced eye to recognize these patterns-within-patterns.
• Most Overos have at least one totally dark leg; many have no leg markings whatsoever. It's possible to find Overos with have four stockings but they're very uncommon.

Overo Lethal White Syndrome

I have been asked to include a section on OLW or OWL(overo lethal white syndrome) but in truth I feel it misleading to do so purely in comment on Overos. Overo Lethal White Syndrome (OLWS) is a condition that occurs in newborn foals. OLWS foals have blue eyes and are completely or almost completely white at birth. These foals initially appear normal except for their unusual coloring. After a varying period of time, troubling signs of colic emerge due to the foal's inability to pass faeces. The OLWS foal has an underdeveloped, contracted intestine caused by a failure of the embryonic cells that form nerves in the gastrointestinal system. Foals suffering from this condition are put to sleep (or die naturally), there is no cure for this condition.

Horses that carry this gene are most commonly overo white patterned horses (frame overos), but there are exceptions. Owners of any Pinto which may be suspected of carrying Overo lines, who wish to use those horses in breeding (this includes Tobianos, Toveros and Sabinos) should have their horses tested, as such horses can carry the condition. Our stallion Takota has been tested pending results, until results are obtained he will not be knowingly bred to mares with Overo lines. As Lesharo (black and white tobiano) is of known parentage, carrying no Overo lines, he will not be tested and is considered OWL safe.