Pinto Horse Patterns
The spotted look is not limited to dogs and cattle. With pinto horse patterns, you will be just as delighted! The coat consists of at least two patches of shade, one of which is usually white. Pinto horse patterns aren't a new trendIt’s been around since the prehistoric era. Can you imagine how long ago that was? Search the archives and your readings will tell you that ancient cultures intentionally bred animals sporting the patterned coat. Today, the color is as well liked as ever. American registries consider the pattern a color breed, and there are even some that compete to get the most number of registrants for the said breed!Registration Matters – Nothing UniversalSince pintos are merely color breeds, any horse breed that sports the distinct pinto horse pattern can actually be considered a pinto. You’ll have to check with the different registries though, because eligibility requirements vary. There are prescribed colors that the horse must meet in order to be recognized as a true pinto.If you want to experience the thrill of meeting very rigid full registration requirements, try registering the horse with the Pinto Horse Association of America. There are of course registries that are much more lenient. Some will allow you to register foals whose parents come from different breeds. The minimum standard your pinto horse must meet is this: The area above the animal’s hocks or knees must have at least 3 square inches of white. Others specify certain breeds only, while many others accept solid-colored foals so long as both parent-horses were previously registered as “breeding-stock” pintos. Recognized Color Combinations and How the British Call ThemMention “pinto” and you’re most likely to imagine something that goes with the patches of white. Here are the UK’s four most widely used terms pertaining to pinto horse pattern and color combinations:
If none of the terms are familiar to you, that’s alright. You’re probably more accustomed to horse color patterns like sabino, tovero, overo and tobiano. You can read more about them in a separate section. Paint vs. Pinto – Same Look, Different BreedingAll paint horses with a pinto horse color pattern are pintos, but not all pintos are paint horses. Breeding sets the two apart. Lovely equine animals who sport a pinto coat and belong to the bloodline of three specific breeds are the only ones that qualify for registration with the American Paint Horse Association.Compared to pinto registries that accommodate several breed combinations, the paint horse registry is more selective. The horse has to have a parent coming from any of the following bloodlines: Thoroughbreds, American Quarter Horses and American Paint Horses. Otherwise, you can’t technically call such animal a paint horse even though it looks like one from head to hooves! The bottom line: Ten times out of ten, you’re correct to call a horse sporting a spotted coat as a pinto. Go easy on labeling the creature a paint horse unless you’re pretty sure of its ancestry. Now, if the animal’s coat pattern resembles the spots of a leopard, that’s not a pinto but an Appaloosa. Some Indian tribes used “painted” to collectively refer to Mustangs and any spotted horse for that matter, but this was a long time ago. Today, the terms have gotten really specific. So the challenge is to know your stuff. Horse lovers will know when you’ve done your homework when you get the terms right. A Look Back in TimeThe story of this rare color goes back to a long, long time ago and spans several continents. The shade was quite uncommon in the wild, but humans were intrigued by the unique horse coat. They captured the horses and bred them for horse shows.You can find drawings of the spotted horse coat in many of ancient Egypt’s artifacts too. The color combination inspired pottery designs and even predates Rome’s rise to glory! Can you believe it? Evidence of the familiar pattern grace some portions of the Russian steppes. (You’ll have to be pretty tight with archeologists to arrive at the exact location.) In the 17th century, pintos became quite a fashion sensation in Europe. Well, fads come and go. So when pinto horse patterns and colors were no longer a hot item and no longer making money for traders in Europe, the Spanish conquistadors shipped the horses to America. Some got sold but most were let loose. You could say the Native Americans were quite taken by the beautiful color combination, “adopted” and then bred some of the pinto horses. Today, the United States of America is home to the biggest number of pinto horses throughout the entire planet. Return to Pinto Horse Patterns
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