American Paint Horse

The American Paint Horse is a breed of horse that combines a pinto spotting pattern of white and dark coat colors with the structural traits of a western stock horse. The American Paint Horse Association (APHA) breed registry, which sprang from a basis of spotted horses with Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred genetics, is currently one of the biggest in North America. The registry recognizes the American Paint Horse as a distinct horse breed with unique features, not just a color breed, and permits some non-spotted animals to be listed as "Solid Paint Bred".

Every Paint Horse has a unique mixture of white and another color from the equine color wheel. Horses with white spots mixed with black, bay, brown, chestnut, or sorrel are the most prevalent. Horses with dilution gene-influenced spot colors, such as palomino, buckskin, cremello, perlino, pearl or "Barlink factor," champagne, various roan hues, or various shades of dun, including grullo, are less prevalent. Paints can also have the gray gene, developing spots that eventually turn into white hair while still having pigmented skin beneath the previously black spots.

Except for the Appaloosa's distinctive leopard complex patterning, which can be found almost anywhere on the body of the Paint, spots can be of any size or shape. Despite having a wide range of colors, markings, and underlying genetics, Paints can be classified into only four distinct coat patterns: overo, tobiano, tovero, and solid.