What is the difference between a paint and a pinto?

Question

I would like a clear definition and possibly pictures.

Answer 1

Paint is a recognized breed of horse...  Of Quarter Horse and/or Thoroughbred lienage.  

"...While the colorful coat pattern is essential to the identity of the breed, American Paint Horses have strict bloodline requirements and a distinctive stock-horse body type. To be eligible for registry, a Paint's sire and dam must be registered with the American Paint Horse Association, the American Quarter Horse Association, or the Jockey Club (Thoroughbreds). At least one parent must be a registered American Paint Horse. To be eligible for the Regular Registry, the horse must also exhibit a minimum amount of white hair over unpigmented (pink) skin."

http://www.apha.com/breed/index.html

Whereas Pinto, is a colour and the can be of any breed as long as it has the colour.  You can have a pinto which is of American Saddlebred breeding (American Show Horse is the registry.), you can have a pinto who is a half Arabian, etc.

http://www.pinto.org/

or

http://www.pintohorseregistry.com/

Now you can have a double registered paint horse, who is a member of APHA and also a registered pinto...

Answer 2

Paints have quarter horse in them and pintos do not

Answer 3

horses are registered as a Paint

and a pinto is just a coloring

(but haha i usually call any horse with white spots a paint just cause i like that word better then pinto...i know its wrong, but i still do it.  Do we have to always be so up tight about it esp. if it is your own horse or just one you see going down the road and your talkin to your family memeber)

--just saying

Answer 4

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. While a Pinto may be of any breed or combination of breeds, and some Pinto registries may have additional restrictions (some do not register draft horses or mules, for example), a horse that is registered as an American Paint Horse must have registered American Quarter Horse, American Paint Horse, or Thoroughbred bloodlines. Therefore, most Paint horses may be register as Pintos, but not all Pintos are qualified to be registered as Paints.

Thus, it is always correct to refer to a horse with a non-leopard spot pattern as a Pinto. 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. However, "paint" or "painted" was also an archaic term used to describe assorted spotted horses bred by various Plains Indian tribes and thus is occasionally used in this context when describing spotted Mustangs. If you wanna know how I found this out click on the link below. Read the Article that says Paint or Pinto? I read it and I remembered it when I read it a long time ago.  

Answer 5

PAINT - When a pure bred quarter horse comes out with spots (other then socks and blazes) they label the horse as a paint. and you can register it as just that. You can also breed two paints and get a paint. If two paints are bred and the baby comes out with NO spots (other then socks and blazes) then you still have to register the horse as a paint, because the horse carries spotted lines and THEIR babies could have spots. (solid colored paints are called breeding stock paints)

PINTO - Lets say you have two Arabians that you have bred, their baby comes out with spots, your baby is eligible to be registered as a pinto. the same goes for ANY breed except for quarter horses.

The easiest way to say it is: Paint is a breed, Pinto is strictly color.

Answer 6

Paint a breed - like quarter horse, thoroughbred. Being a paint does not necessarily mean the horse has the typical color - you CAN have a solid paint as long as the horse's bloodlines are... paint.

Pinto is a color - like palamino, or buckskin. It just means that your horse displays typical color patterns. The breed is not important.