History:
It is significant that American Paint Horses share a common ancestry with the American Quarter Horse and the American Thoroughbred. The American Paint Horse Association sprang from the efforts of like-minded horsemen and women who loved the ability and speed of the Western “stock” type horse, but who also appreciated the extra eye appeal of the American Paint.
However, when the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) emerged in 1940 to preserve stock horse pedigrees, it adopted standards that excluded horses with painted coat patterns. Regardless of the AQHA registry’s color requirements, many American Paints, both then and today, are the result of matings between two AQHA-registered parents.
In response to AQHA restriction on horses with “excessive white” markings, two groups formed to preserve the Paint Horse’s rightful heritage: The American Paint Quarter Horse Association, founded in 1961, and the American Paint Stock Horse Association, founded in 1962 by Rebecca Tyler Lockhart. In 1965 the two organizations united to become the American Paint Horse Association.
Not satisfied to be only a color breed based entirely on coat patterns, the founders of APHA also set strict standards of conformation, athletic ability and performance, as well as demanding intelligence, a calm temperament and a willing disposition. As proof of their commitment to these ideals, the founders instituted a stringent stallion inspection program that remained in effect until the breed was well established.
To be eligible for registry with the APHA, horses had to come from stock registered with one of four recognized organizations: the American Paint Quarter Horse Association, the American Paint Stock Horse Association, the Jockey Club, or the American Quarter Horse Association. Today, the three recognized organizations are the APHA, the AQHA and the Jockey Club. And even though solid-colored horses with Paint Horse bloodlines are included in the APHA registry as Breeding Stock, the association maintains color requirements for registration in the Regular Registry.
The colorful coat pattern is essential to the identity of the breed, and preserving these unique coat patterns is the purpose for which the association was formed.
Characteristics:
Colors and Patterns of the American Paint Horse:
Each Paint Horse has a particular combination of white and any color of the equine spectrum: black, bay, brown, chestnut, dun, grullo, sorrel, palomino, buckskin, gray or roan. Markings can be any shape or size, and located virtually anywhere on the Paint’s body. Although Paints come in a variety of colors with different markings, there are only three specific coat patterns: overo, tobiano and tovero. These colors, markings, and patterns, combined with stock-type conformation, athletic ability and agreeable disposition, make the American Paint Horse an investment in quality.
Coat Patterns:
Overo: (pronounced: oh vair’ oh) The white usually will not cross the back of the horse between its withers and its tail. Generally, at least one and often all four legs are dark. Generally, the white is irregular, and is rather scattered or splashy. Head markings are distinctive, often bald-faced, apron-faced or bonnet-faced. An overo may be either predominantly dark or white. The tail is usually one color.
Tobiano: (pronounced: tow be yah’ no) The dark color usually covers one or both flanks. Generally, all four legs are white, at least below the hocks and knees. Generally, the spots are regular and distinct as ovals or round patterns that extend down over the neck and chest, giving the appearance of a shield. Head markings are like those of a solid-colored, or with a blaze, strip, star or snip. A tobiano may be either predominantly dark or white. The tail is often two colors.
Tovero: (pronounced: tow vair’ oh) These horses combine the characteristics of both overos and tobianos.
Coat Colors:
Paints come in all colors. To determine the color of your horse, use the illustrations here as a guideline. Keep in mind that the colors and patterns of American Paints come in all combinations.
| Red Roan: A red roan is a uniform mixture of white with red hairs on a large portion of the body, but usually darker on the heard and lower legs. The mane and tail may be red, black, flaxen or white. |  |
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Black: True black coats are rare. The body color is black without light areas (other than white markings). The mane and tail may be black, white or both. |
| Blue Roan: A blue roan is a uniform mixture of white with black hairs over a large portion of the body, but usually darker on the head and lower legs. The mane and tail may be black or white. |  |
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Brown: The body is brown or black with no hint of red. Light areas can be found on the muzzle, eyes, flank and inside upper legs. The mane and tail may be black, white or both. |
| Gray: Gray is a mixture of white and any other color hair. A gray is often born solid- or almost solid- colored and gets lighter with age. |  |
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Bay: The body color ranges from tan through red to reddish-brown. The mane and tail may be black, white or both. Both is also commonly found on the lower legs. |
| Palomino: The body color is golden yellow. The mane and tail are white. Palominos do not have dorsal stripes like the similarly colored dun horse. |  |
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Chestnut: The body color is dark red or brownish-red. The mane and tail are usually dark red or brownish-red, but may be flaxen or white. |
Buckskin: The buckskin has a body color of shades of yellow or gold. The mane and tail may be black, white or both. Black is common on the lower legs. A buckskin may not have a black dorsal stripe. |
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Sorrel: The body is a reddish or copper-red color. The mane and tail are usually the same color as the body and may be flaxen or white. |
| Grullo: The body color is smoky or mouse-colored (not a mixture of black and white hairs, but each hair mouse-colored). The mane and tail may be black, white or both, and there typically is a black dorsal stripe and black on the lower legs. |  |
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Dun :The body color is yellowish or gold, with each hair the same color. The mane and the tail may be black, brown or white. Duns may exhibit a dorsal stripe, a transverse stripe over the withers, and zebra stripes on the legs. |
| Red Dun: Red dun has a yellow- or flesh-colored body. The mane and tail are red or reddish, flaxen, white or mixed. Typically the dorsal stripe, transverse stripe and zebra stripes on the legs are red or reddish. |  |
American Paint Horse Association:
The APHA has come a long way since it’s formation with the merger of the American Paint Quarter Horse Association and the American Paint Stock Horse Association in 1965. At that time there were approximately 3,800 horses in the registry.
Since then, the APHA and its members have so effectively nurtured the breed that today the registry contains the pedigrees of more than 400,000 horses. This number continues to grow as approximately 50,000 foals are registered each year.
Once an organization promoted and operated from a kitchen table in Gainesville, Texas, the APHA now conducts business on a global scale, and has become one of the fastest growing breed registries. In 1997, the APHA became the second largest equine registry, in terms of number of horses registered annually, in the United States, behind only the American Quarter Horse Association.
While the association’s main purpose is to record Paint Horse pedigrees, it is also dedicated to preserving and promoting the history, breeding, training, racing, showing, sales and enjoyment of American Paints.
Made up of nearly 70,000 members, the APHA has a strong network of regional clubs and international affiliates. There is a place and a program for everyone, no matter what your level of interest or riding skill. If you like Paints, you are a welcome part of the family.
The APHA is a democratic organization, managed by elected officials who are supported by a professional staff. Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, this Western-rooted breed is growing in popularity around the world. New members and clubs are scattered across Europe, South America, Asia and Australia.
For more information on Paint Horses or the American Paint Horse Association, contact: American Paint Horse Assocation P.O. Box 961023 – FORT WORTH, TX 76161-0023 10405 NORTH FREEWAY – FORT WORTH, TX 76177 (817) 439-3400 – FAX (817) 439-3484 www.apha.com
Lethal Whites:
A Light at the End of the Tunnel
by Dawn Walker
Several experts clarify what we now know, and what we hope to know soon about this devastating syndrome Lethal White: A foal of overo lineage, born all white or mostly white. The foal may seem normal at birth, but usually begins showing signs of colic within 12 hours because of a non-functioning colon. Because the syndrome is always fatal, lethal white foals are often euthanized.
In Hardy Oelke’s book, The Paint Horse; An American Treasure, lethal white syndrome is referred to as the “greatest nightmare” of Paint breeders. All breeders–large and small–agree that producing a lethal white foal is one of the biggest disappointments and frustrations of the trade. Is it simply the price to pay for breeding overos, or is tre hope for a day when breeders can produce overo color without the risk of lethal whites?
Since the origin of the American Paint Stock Horse Association in 1962, lethal white syndrome has been a plaguing presence, lurking in the shadows of the breed’s success. For lack of a scientific explanation, or perhaps to downplay the one negative aspect of the breed, Paint breeders and the association itself adopted a “sweep it under the rug” policy for many years.
But now, as the APHA watches its registration and membership numbers climb ever skyward, and breeders see their black and white overos bringing premium prices across the country, each is uncomfortably aware of a matching increase in the incidence of lethal whites.
After 30 years of questions, everyone seems to agree it is time to get some answers.
The closest thing to an explanation of the lethal white foal syndrome thus far has been an article written by Dr. Ann Bowling of the University of California at Davis, which was published in the August 1993 issue of the Paint Horse Journal. In her article, Bowling proposed that the three classes of horses that resulted from overo-to-overo matings (overo, solid and lethal white) fit a model of overo as a dominant gene with lethal effects in the homozygous state. This model predicted that 25 percent of foals from two overo parents would be lethal whites.
Bowling went on to say that the studbook definition of overo may include more than one genetic entity, which complicates the application of her model for understanding overo inheritance and predicting lethalwhites.
In a recent interview, Bowling stood by her proposition, pointing out that there has been no successful homozygous overo stallion to date, leading her to believe that whatever causes homozygosity in overos is linked to lethal white syndrome.
At the same time Bowling was formulating her theory, the APHA and Portland State University in Portland, Oregon, were doing pedigree studies of their own. For the past 10 years, the APHA has collected surveys on lethal white foals from its members and submitted them to a team at the university for analysis.
In the first half of this article, Dr. Debbie Duffield, a researcher at Portland State University who has been working on the project since its inception, shares her team’s conclusions on how to predict the occurrence of lethal white foals.
Recently, lethal white syndrome has also been examined from a genetic standpoint. In July of 1996, a team of researchers at the University of Minnesota sent the APHA a comprehensive proposal for a grant to describe the inheritance of lethal white syndrome and to locate the gene responsible. In November, the APHA Executive Committee approved the $7,650 grant, and the project is now under way.
The project is headed by three researchers at the university–Dr. James Mickelson, Dr. Stephanie Valberg, and Dr. Elizabeth Santschi. In the second part of this article, Dr. Santschi tells us what they know now, what theories they plan to test, and what they hope to accomplish during the next six months.
