Animal Facts

The American Paint horse is a distinct breed of horse, not to be confused with the Pinto. Pintos have similar colorings as the Paint, but can be any breed of horse. The Paint breed is descended from horses brought here by the Spanish conquistadors that escaped to join wild herds. Both the Native Americans and cowboys revered this horse for its strength, agility and intelligence. These horses are still used on farms working with livestock today. They tend to be stocky and well-muscled for a light horse, with an elegant neck and head.

Paint horses can be any color with the characteristic white markings. While there is a wide variety of unique markings, they are divided into three coat patterns. Tobiano have white legs, rounded white markings on the body but no more than the normal blaze or snip on the face. Also their tail is typically two colors. Overo look similar but there are differences, their white markings tend to be jagged and irregular on body and do not cross the horse's back. At least one, sometimes more legs are colored and their tail is one color. The face of the overo paint has much more white than the tobiano, sometimes covering the entire head. Then there's the tovero, which has a combination of both coat types. Tovero tend to be mostly white, with the color around the ears and eyes and large chest and/or flank spots. Typically one or both eyes are blue. Even with such a diversity of colors and markings, the one thing they all have in common is they are beautiful horses.