On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. This article is about a coat color of horses. A pinto horse has a coat color that consists of large patches of white and any other color. The distinction between “pinto” pinto posole “solid” can be tenuous, as so-called “solid” horses frequently have areas of white hair.

Various cultures throughout history appear to have selectively bred for pinto patterns. Many breeds of horses carry pinto patterns. Pinto coloring, known simply as “coloured” in nations using British English, is the most popular in the United States. Pinto patterns are visually and genetically distinct from the leopard complex spotting patterns characteristic of horse breeds such as the Appaloosa.

Breeders who select for color are often careful not to cross the two patterns, and registries that include spotting color preferences often refuse registration to horses that exhibit characteristics of the “wrong” pattern. The word pinto is Spanish for “painted”, “dappled”, or “spotted”. While pinto coloration has yet to be identified as a wildtype by DNA studies or seen in cave art antedating horse domestication, images from pottery and other art of ancient antiquity show horses with flashy, spotted patterns, indicating that they may have been desirable traits and selectively bred for. 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 of which were sold, while others were simply turned loose to run wild. A number of words describe the various color and spotting patterns of pinto horses. Essentially, a pinto horse is genetically created when an allele for a spotting pattern is present.

The genes that create the underlying base coat color are not related to the genes that create white spotting. Coloured: The term for pinto coloration in nations using BE, it includes both piebald and skewbald. It is usually incorporated into the term skewbald. Tobiano: The most common type of pinto, tobiano is 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, having markings also seen on a nonpinto horse. Overo: A collective term used primarily by the APHA, overo essentially means “pinto, but not tobiano”.

It denotes patterns produced by at least three different genetic mechanisms: frame, splashed white, or sabino, described below. These patterns are usually characterized by irregular markings with more jagged edges than tobiano markings. The white rarely crosses the back. Splashed white: A less-common type of nontobiano pinto pattern, splashed white coats have horizontally oriented white markings with crisp, smooth edges, and make the horse appear to have been dipped, head lowered, into white paint.

The face has significant white markings, and the eyes are usually blue. Sabino: Sometimes confused with roan or rabicano, sabino horses possess a slight spotting pattern characterized by high white on legs, belly spots, and white markings on the face extending past the eyes. The edges of markings may be “lacy” or patches of roaning patterns standing alone or on the edges of white markings can occult. Tovero: The tovero spotting pattern is a mix of tobiano and any form of overo coloration, usually reflecting that the horse carries more than one set of genes for a spotting pattern. For example, a tovero may have a mostly white tobiano pattern on the body, but also have blue eyes with or without a white head. Horses can carry multiple spotting genes at the same time, producing characteristics of several patterns. Dominant white: A family of sabino-like white spotting patterns, all dominant white coats aredominantly inherited, analogous to human piebaldism.

While some forms are associated with pure white coats and are considered “true white”, not pinto, most actually show great variance in the amount of white. Chrome: This informal term of approval for appealing white markings on the horse can be confusing, as it is also used to describe boldly patterned Appaloosas. Solid: This is a horse that does not visibly express a pinto pattern. It may have white markings on the legs or face akin to those of nonpinto horses. Solid horses may carry one of the various pinto pattern genes.

Some color breed registries accept solid horses as breeding stock, while others do not. Breeding stock: This is a solid horse registered with one of the various registries that registers horses with pinto markings, such as the APHA which registers these horses under a special designation of “Solid Paint Bred”. Medicine hat: An uncommon pattern, the poll and ears are dark, surrounded completely by white, a true “medicine hat” pinto or paint usually has a predominantly white body, sometimes with dark coloration by the flanks, chest, and above the eyes. Shield: A large, dark patch covers the chest, surrounded completely by white, usually on a predominantly white horse, sometimes associated with medicine hat patterning.

Cropout: This horse has spotting, though from two apparently solid-colored parents, typically within a breed whose standard does not allow pinto coloration. 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. Thus, while referring to a horse with a non-leopard spot pattern as a pinto is always correct, 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. A number of color breed registries encourage the breeding of pinto-colored horses, with varying registration requirements. Many breed registries do not, or at some point in the past did not, accept “cropout” horses with spots or “excess” white for registration, believing that such animals were likely to be crossbreds, or due to a fear of producing lethal white foals.