- Appaloosa
- Akhalteke
- American Cream
- American Miniature
- Andalusian
- Arabian
- Azteca
- Bashkir Curly
- Belgian Draft
- Buckskin
- Cleveland Bay
- Clydesdale
- Connemara Dutch
- Warmblood
- Dartmoor
- Friesian
- Hackney
- Haflinger
- Hanoverian
- Highland
- Holsteiner
- Icelandic
- Irish Draft
- Lipizzan
- Missouri Foxtrotting
- Morab
- Morgan
- Norwegian
- Oldenburg
- Paint
- Paso Fino
- Peruvian Paso
- Quarter
- Rocky Mountain
- Shetland
- Shire
- Spanish Barb
- Spotted Draft
- Standardbred
- Tennessee Walking
- Trakehner
- Warmblood
- Welsh Pony
Information Provided Courtesy of The American Paint Horse Association
PAINT HORSE
History | Characteristics | The APHA | Lethal Whites
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.