Color Coordinated

Bling. Nowadays it’s found everywhere, from oversized jewelry to bedazzled clothing and embellished manicures. It seems like human nature to be drawn to flashy objects. In the world of horses, the American Paint Horse fills the niche for a horse blessed by the bling fairy. Although it’s sometimes confused with a pinto (which denotes only a color pattern, not a breed), an American Paint Horse must come from verified Paint, American Quarter Horse or Thoroughbred lineage.

The versatile riding horse with the color option has become the third most popular breed of horse in the United States. In 2006, there were 39,357 new American Paint Horse registrations. Only the more sedately colored American Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds boast more registered foals each year. Of course, the genetics of color being the gamble that they are, not all Paint foals come splashed with color.

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For the full article, check out the November 2007 issue of Horse Illustrated.

10 years ago

Cindy Hale

Cindy Hale’s life with horses has been filled with variety. As a child she rode western and learned to barrel race. Then she worked as a groom for a show barn, and was taught to harness and drive Welsh ponies. But once she’d taken her first lessons aboard American Saddlebreds she was hooked on English riding. Hunters and hunt seat equitation came next, and she spent decades competing in those divisions on the West Coast. Always seeking to improve her horsemanship, she rode in clinics conducted by world-class riders like George Morris, Kathy Kusner and Anne Kursinski. During that time, her family began raising Thoroughbred and warmblood sport horses, and Cindy experienced the thrills and challenges of training and showing the homebred greenies. Now retired from active competition, she’s a popular judge at local and county-rated open and hunter/jumper shows. She rides recreationally both English and western. Her Paint gelding, Wally, lives at home with her and her non-horsey husband, Ron.