The American Paint Horse is an American breed of horse which is a specific type of pinto horse. Pinto horses are characterized by a certain percentage of white hair over unpigmented skin combined with some other color.
The American Paint Horse shares a common ancestry with the American Quarter Horse and indeed, a registered Paint horse should conform to the same "stock horse" body type desired in Quarter Horses: a muscular animal that is heavy but not too tall, with a low centre of gravity for rapid maneuverability, and powerful hindquarters suitable for rapid acceleration and extreme sprinting speed.
When the American Quarter Horse Association emerged in 1940 to preserve horses of the "stock" type, it excluded those with pinto coat patterns. Undeterred, fans of colorful stock horses formed a variety of organizations to preserve and promote these handsome creatures. In 1965 some of these groups merged to form the American Paint Horse Association. Today, the American Paint Horse is one of America's most popular breeds.
One medical issue associated with the breed is the genetic disease, lethal white syndrome.
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