A paint horse?

Question

We have a 4 year old paint horse, never had one before always had quater horses, anyways, he was a sorral when we got him a year ago with some white markings, but in the last year he has gotton more and more white spots on him, my question is will he change colors, ands will the spots get bigger, over the last 6 months the spots like pockadots have gotten more and more and bigger and bigger, just wanted to know if any new will they get bigger the white spots, or at what age a paint gets his full color? any help

Answer 1

here's a pic of my boy when he was born he had no white on this side in the last ten months he has come on with this white across his belly and up his side.

if anyone cares he's a very well bred paint, reg and everything

http://i33.tinypic.com/34dpykh.jpg

Answer 2

You are getting conflicting answers, so I'm sure you don't know what to think after all this!

First of all, Paints do not grow new spots as they age, nor do the spots greatly grow.  Its true that a foal will have a 2 inch spot on its side, and as the foal grows, the spot will grow porportionately.  But the spot will not change drastically, if it covered the foal's left shoulder it will still only cover his left shoulder as he's an adult, it won't drift to cover his stomach and chest and neck as well.

If you are still in doubt, I would suggest contact APHA or look on their website and see if you can get a good explaination of color genetics.  Basically most horses have dark skin, Paints have a gene that causes some parts of their skin to be light in color.  The hair over that light skin will grow in white.  This is true in horses of other breeds that have white stockings and blazes, etc.  Horses do not grow in new white socks as they age, genetics don't work that way, and its the same with a Paint's patches.

Having said that - there are times a horse will grow in white hair.  One explaination is "birdcatcher spots" which are common in Quarter horses as well as Paints and other stock breeds.  These will be small white patches of hair, they can appear at any age but they will seldom become much larger than an egg.  And if you were to clip the hair you would see that the skin under the birdcatcher spot has remained dark in color.  Often the white birdcatcher spots appear almost roany, and not a true bright white spot.  Also, with scarring or injuries horses often grow in white hair.  Another possibility is seen in horses that grey out.  I don't know if the Appy gene is the same as the grey gene, but in a grey horse they start any base color and then their hair slowly changes over to the grey tone as they age.

I hope that helps.  I imagine with the posters you've had that said "yes" Paints often grow new spots, I'm going to sound like an uninformed idiot.  But I can only tell you what the APHA website, my personal experience and the hundreds of Paint horses I've seen grow through the years at the APHA show level.

Answer 3

generally paints are born paints.  The appy pattern however does appear later, generally at two years but often grows for a few years after that.

There is another cause of spots however but they are usually small.  It is called birdcatchers spots (named after a famous race horse with them)  Thes small white spots come and go on some horses.  On others they stay the same while on some they decrease over the years and still others they increase.  To my knowledge the gene or genes which cause them are unknown.

Answer 4

in answer to your question,yes he will keep changing color probably untill the age of ten here are some pictures of my horse chance who is a grullo tobiano.

ok they wont let me upload the photos from photobucket

but he started out as all black with a white blaze.now he is grey with spots,four black socks and a clown face

lets see if this works.nope

Answer 5

Paints have their markings at birth. What you are describing sounds more like graying. Some horses gray at a slow rate and others fast. White Paint markings have pink skin where the white hair is and as I said before white markings will be present at birth.

Answer 6

his coat might still be growing

Answer 7

a paint is a quarter horse just spotted and yes they will get bigger.

Answer 8

Like the first poster was saying, paints are born with their pattern, and it doesn't change.  You will never have a Paint horse change its spots.  An Appoloosa however, will change spots for a couple years until they are mature.  When they shed out in the spring, their spots may look different.  You've got an Appy, not a paint.