Pinto Horse Association of America

The Pinto Horse Association of America (PtHA) registers horses, utility horses, ponies and miniature horses of various pedigrees with certain kinds of pinto coat colors. The word pinto is Spanish for "paint." In general terms, pinto can apply to any horse marked with unpigmented pink-skinned, white-haired areas on its coat. The Pinto Horse Association of America provides the owners and riders of pintos with a show circuit and a breed organization. The primary requirement for PtHA registration is coat color; the pinto is not a true breed, but a color breed.

This registry is distinct from the American Paint Horse Association, which registers Paint horses. The Paint Horse is bred as a suitable for western riding, and comes from American Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred lineage. The Pinto Horse Association of America does not specialize solely in stock horse breeding, though some PtHA-registered horses are stock horses. Most horses with the recognized color pattern registered by the American Paint Horse Association qualify for the PtHA as well, though the reverse is not true.

The Pinto Horse Association of America was formed in 1956 for "colored" horses. The aim of the association was to provide a competition venue for spotted horses and to track their pedigrees. The need for the organization arose in part due to the exclusion of horses with excessive white, called cropouts, from many traditional breed registries. Many registries that have relaxed their regulations regarding coat color in recent years historically denied papers to some examples of the breed. Spotted horses also faced discrimination in the show ring, as solid coat colors were preferred.

To qualify for full registration with the Pinto Horse Association of America, a horse must exhibit a cumulative four square inches of white coat with underlying pink skin in the so-called "qualifying zone." The qualifying zone excludes the face from the ear to the corner of the mouth, and the corner of the mouth to the chin. The legs from the knee and hock down are also not part of the qualifying zone. Ponies must have a cumulative three square inches of pink-skinned white coat, and Miniature horses need to exhibit two square inches of such white coat.

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