Pinto horse
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2008-07-08T08:32:40Z
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{{otheruses4|a [[equine coat color|coat color]] of [[horse]]s|other uses|Pinto}}
[[Image:Paint Horse REFON.jpg|thumb|300px|A horse with pinto coloring, specifically the tobiano pattern]]
A '''Pinto horse''' has a [[equine coat color|coat color]] that consists of large patches of white and another color. In [[UK|Britain]] and [[Ireland]], the term used to describe this pattern is [[#Colors|"coloured"]]. The Pinto color pattern existed in prehistoric times, and has been specifically bred by various cultures throughout history. Pinto coloring is popular today in the English-speaking world, especially the United States, where the pattern is considered a [[color breed]] and several competing registries have formed to encourage the breeding of pinto horses.
A Pinto may be any breed, but must be of the proper color. There are several different registries with varying requirements. The [[Pinto Horse Association of America]] (PtHA) defines pinto horses recorded in their registry as a true breed and accepts solid-colored offspring of registered pinto parents as breeding stock, but has strict requirements for full registration.<ref>[http://www.pinto.org/registration.html Pinto Horse Association registration requirements]</ref>The most generous allow registration of a horse of any breed or combination of breeds with as little as three square inches of white above the knees or hocks, other than facial markings. Some registries also require horses to meet a certain breed or type standard. A few registries will allow registration of a solid-colored foal if the parents were both colored and accepted by the registry.
==Color patterns and genetics of Pinto Horses==
{{main|Equine coat color|Equine coat color genetics|leucism}}
There are a number of words used to describe the typical color and spotting patterns of pinto horses. Essentially, a pinto horse is genetically created when an [[allele]] for a spotting pattern is present in addition to the [[gene]]s that create the underlying base [[equine coat color|coat color]]. The precise mechanism that creates spotting is not fully understood, but appears to be a form of [[leucism]]. Common terms for describing different types of pinto horses include:
===Colors===
*[[Piebald]]: (term more commonly used in the British Isles than North America). A black and white spotting pattern.
*[[Skewbald]]: (term more commonly used in the British Isles than North America). A spotting pattern of white and any color other than black, often a [[chestnut (coat)|chestnut]] and white horse, (sometimes called "brown and white") but now also used to refer to a [[bay (horse)|bay]] and white horse. Skewbald horses are less commonly [[Palomino]] or [[Buckskin (color)|Buckskin]] and white, [[Roan (color)|Roan]] and white, or any number of other shades.
*Coloured: The [[British Isles]] term for Pinto coloration, including both piebald and skewbald.
*[[Tricoloured (horse)|Tricolored or Tricoloured]]: a term for horse with three colors (usually bay and white), a color now usually incorporated into the term Skewbald, though once was referred to by the [[archaic]] term ''oddbald.''
===Patterns===
*[[Tobiano]]: The most common type of pinto. A spotting pattern characterized by rounded markings with white legs and white across the back between the withers and the dock of the tail, usually arranged in a roughly vertical pattern and more white than dark, though the ideal is a 50-50 distribution, with the head usually dark and with markings like that of a normal horse. i.e. star, snip, strip, or blaze. Thought to be a [[dominant gene]], in that for a tobiano foal to be produced, at least one parent must be tobiano.<ref>[http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/tobiano.php Tobiano test] ''from'' Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis. Web Site accessed January 13, 2008</ref>
*[[Overo]]: Spotting pattern characterized by sharp, irregular markings with a horizontal orientation, usually more dark than white, though the face is usually white, sometimes with blue eyes. The white rarely crosses the back, and the lower legs are normally dark. A complex genetic pattern, not fully understood. Has [[recessive gene|recessive]] genetic behavior, in that overo foals (sometimes called "cropouts") are occasionally produced from two solid-colored parents, may possibly be [[polygenic]]. There are two recognized forms, "frame" overo and "spash" or "spash white" overo. Each appears to be expressed by the action of different genes. (See [[Overo]] article for more information)
*[[Sabino horse|Sabino]]: Sometimes confused with [[roan (color)|roan]] or [[rabicano]], a slight spotting pattern characterized by high white on legs, belly spots, white markings on the face extending past the eyes and/or patches of roaning patterns standing alone or on the edges of white markings. In some registries, sabinos are registered as having the overo pattern, though the two are not related. Sabino is usually recessive in behavior, thought to be either polygenic or a [[gene complex]], though one form, produced by the SB1 gene, when present, is a dominant.
*[[Tovero]]: spotting pattern that is a mix of tobiano and overo coloration, such as blue eyes on a dark head. Horses can carry multiple spotting genes at the same time, producing characteristics of both patterns.
===Related terms===
*"Chrome": An informal term of approval used to describe a particularly flashy horse.
*"Solid": A horse with no spotting pattern, usually referring to the offspring of spotted parents. Some color registries accept solids as breeding stock, others do not.
*'Medicine hat": an uncommon pattern where the [[poll (livestock)|poll]] and ears are dark, surrounded completely by white. A true "medicine hat" pinto or paint has additional characteristics, usually a body that is predominantly white, with dark coloration by the flanks and around the eyes.
*"Shield": A large dark patch covering the chest, surrounded completely by white, usually on a predominantly white horse. Sometimes associated with Medicine hat patterning
*''[[Cropout]]'': A horse with spotting who had two apparently solid-colored parents.
==Paint or Pinto?==
{{Main|American Paint Horse}}
A Pinto differs from a "Paint" solely by breeding. Horses with Pinto coloring and verifiable pedigrees tracing to Quarter Horses or Thoroughbreds have been named the [[American Paint Horse]] and are recorded in a separate registry, the [[American Paint Horse Association]]. While a Pinto may be of any breed or combination of breeds, and some Pinto registries may have additional restrictions (some do not register draft horses or mules, for example), a horse that is registered as an American Paint Horse must have registered [[American Quarter Horse]], American Paint Horse, or [[Thoroughbred]] bloodlines. Therefore, most Paint horses may be registed as Pintos, but not all Pintos are qualified to be registered as Paints.
Thus, it is always correct to refer to a horse with a non-[[leopard (pattern)|leopard]] spot pattern as a Pinto. A spotted horse should only be called a Paint if its ancestry is known or if it displays conformation that is clearly akin to that of an [[American Quarter Horse]]. A leopard spotted horse is usually called an [[Appaloosa]], whether it is a registered Appaloosa or not. However, "paint" or "painted" was also an [[archaic]] term used to describe assorted spotted horses bred by various [[Native Americans in the United States|Plains Indian]] tribes and thus is occasionally used in this context when describing spotted [[Mustang (horse)|Mustangs]].
==Origins==
Although pinto coloration is rare in the wild, people have always had an eye for animals of unusual colors and a desire to deliberately breed for them. Images from pottery and other art of ancient antiquity show horses with flashy spotted patterns. Images of spotted horses appear in the art of [[Ancient Egypt]], and archaeologists have found evidence of horses with spotted coat patterns on the Russian steppes prior to the rise of the [[Roman Empire]]. Later, spotted horses were among those brought to the [[Americas]] by the [[Conquistadors]].
By the 17th century in Europe, spotted horses were quite fashionable, though when the fad ended, large numbers of newly-unsellable horses were shipped to the Americas, some for sale, and others simply turned loose to run wild.<ref>Bennett, Deb. ''Conquerors: The Roots of New World Horsemanship.'' Amigo Publications Inc; 1st edition 1998. ISBN 0-9658533-0-6</ref> The color became popular, particularly among [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]], and was specifically bred for in the United States, which now has the greatest number of Pinto horses in the world.
==Pintos Today==
[[Image:Gedinne 050717 (14).JPG|thumb|left|200px|This photograph shows the difference between a [[Pinto horse]] and a leopard-spotted [[Appaloosa]]. The Pinto is on the left, the Appaloosa on the right. ''Photo credit: Jean-Pol Grandmont'']]
<!--Image tag says pinto is a "paint," but paint is a breed and the horse in question does not have paint body type, so am using generic term "pinto" here. -->
Pinto horses can be any of the major physical [[horse conformation|conformation]] types. A "Hunter Type" pinto displays the body type associated with pinto color crossed on predominantly [[Thoroughbred]] or [[Warmblood]] breeding. A "Saddle Type" pinto is a [[gaited horse]] or [[pony]] displaying the carriage, animation, and conformation of the [[American Saddlebred]] or [[Tennessee Walking Horse]]. A "Pleasure Type" Pinto may be partly of [[Morgan horse|Morgan]] or [[Arabian horse]] breeding, and some [[Arabian horse|Arabian]]/Saddlebred crosses known as the [[National Show Horse]] have pinto coloring as well. The "Stock Type" resembles horses of [[American Quarter Horse]] breeding.
Crossbred ponies and even some purebred breeds, such as the [[Shetland pony]] and the [[miniature horse]], also may have pinto coloring. Some pinto registries do not accept animals with [[draft horse]] or [[mule]] breeding, though others do. None accept [[Appaloosa]] coloring.
==Controversies==
===Breed registries and white markings===
Many [[breed registry|breed registries]] do not, or at some time in the past did not, accept"[[cropout]]" horses with spots or "excess" white for registration, believing such animals were likely to be [[crossbreeding|crossbreds]]. This exclusion of offspring from pedigreed parents led to the formation not only of the American Paint Horse Association, but other Pinto registries as well. Among the breeds that excluded such horses were the [[Arabian horse]] and [[American Quarter Horse]] registries. However, modern [[DNA]] testing has revealed that some breeds do possess genes for spotting patterns, such as the sabino pattern in Arabians, and sabino, overo, and tobiano in Quarter Horses. Therefore, these registries have modified their rules, allowing horses with extra white, if parentage is verified through DNA testing, to be registered. On the other hand, the Jockey Club's [[Thoroughbred]] registry still does not officially recognize pinto as a registerable color, though they do allow white body spots to be recorded under the category of [[horse markings|markings]].<ref>[https://www.registry.jockeyclub.com/registry.cfm?page=dotRegistryIdentifyThoroughbred&CFID=9378290&CFTOKEN=94510467 "How to Identify a Thoroughbred."]</ref>The Welsh Pony and Cob Society of the UK also does not accept "piebald" or "skewbald" horses for registration.<ref>[http://www.wpcs.uk.com/ponies/registration.html Welsh Pony and Cob Society Registration Rules]</ref>
===Lethal White Syndrome===
{{Main|Lethal White Syndrome}}
There is a link between the frame overo gene and a condition called [[Lethal White Syndrome]]. Not all overo horses carry the gene, and some horses that do not appear to be overo do carry the gene. However, if a foal is born [[homozygous]] for the gene, it dies shortly after birth. This gene can be detected by DNA testing and breeders can now avoid breeding two carrier horses to one another.
==See also==
*[[Equine coat color]]
*[[Equine coat color genetics]]
==References==
<References/>
*[http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/coatcolorhorse.php "Horse coat color tests"] from the [[UC Davis]] Veterinary Genetics Lab
*[http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/coatcolor.php "Introduction to Coat Color Genetics"] ''from'' Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis. Web Site accessed January 12, 2008
==External links==
*[http://www.pinto.org/ Pinto Horse Registry of America]
*[http://www.pintohorseregistry.com/ National Pinto Horse Registry (United States)]
*[http://www.imh.org/museum/breeds.php?pageid=8&breed=74&alpha=Four "Pinto Horse", ''from'' International Museum of the Horse]
{{Equine coat colors}}
[[Category:Horse coat colors]]
[[Category:Color breeds]]
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