Paint Horses are one of the most popular breeds in the world today. They descend from Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred bloodlines, just have that extra splash of color to them. They are 4 main color patterns to a Paint Horse:

Tobiano: One of the most common patterns seen in Paint horses. A tobiano has smoother looking edges around the white. Their faces are generally solid or dark, with only a little bit of white (star, stripe, blaze maybe), and don't typically have blue eyes. Tobianos should have all 4 legs white, but a sock is acceptable instead of a stocking. The horses white always crosses the back (unless it's a minimal white tobiano), normally by the withers or on the hip, but it can cross anywhere or everywhere on the back. Little dark spots on the white are a sign of the horses being homozygous for tobiano (can't have solid foals, will always produce color), but not all homozygous tobianos have them.

Overo: Overo is the second most common pattern seen in Paints. An overo has rough edges around the white. Their faces are typically all white or mostly white, and they tend to have blue eyes. Overos normally do not have 4 white legs, and at least one dark leg is normally present. White NEVER crosses the back on an overo, but it can cross the neck. Dark patches around the muzzle are common in overos.

Tovero: Tovero is the mix between an overo and a tobiano. The body will have white that crosses the back, but they do have overo characteristics. The face will generally be that of an overo - extensive white with dark patches around the muzzle. Normally, all 4 legs are white, but dark legs (not all 4) are acceptable. Even homozygous tobianos can produce a tovero, because toveros have tobiano characteristics.

Sabino: Sabino is a difficult pattern to identify. Many people confuse it with an overo. Sabino horses usually have four white feet and white legs. The white usually extends up the legs in ragged patches, and then extends onto the horse's body from the belly. The head is usually fairly white, and the eyes are commonly blue. Many sabino horses have eyes that are partially blue and partially brown. Flecks, patches and roan areas are common on sabinos, in contrast to the frame overos that are usually more crisply marked. Sabino occurs in Paints, Thoroughbreds, Clydesdales, Arabians, and many other breeds. The whitest of the sabinos are nearly or entirely white. Some retain color only on the ears. Others are indeed white all over. One of the whiter ranges of expression includes color on the ears, chest, and tail base. These are the “medicine hat” Paints of the native tribes from the Great Plains. Most sabinos that are largely white are very speckled and roaned, and some can be confused with Appaloosas.

Splashed White: Splashed white is actually an overo, but just has a nickname. The pattern usually makes the horse look as though it has been dipped in white paint. On a dark horse, the effect can be that of an ice cream cone dipped in chocolate. The legs are usually white, as are the bottom portions of the body. The head is also usually white, and the eyes are frequently blue. The edges of the white are consistently crisp and clean, with no roaning. Some of these splashed whites have dark top lines, but on some the white crosses the top line.

Appaloosa patterns are even harder to identify, as some horses look as if they have multiple patterns. Appaloosas generally have mottled skin (by the muzzle, eyes, and genital areas), striped hooves, and white sclera.

Blanket: A blanket pattern is where white covers the hips, and can extend up to the withers. They can be as small as this, and as big as this. Blankets do not have to have spots in them, but when they do, the spots are the same color as the horses body color. Extensive blanket horses are sometimes called 'near-leopard'.

Leopard: Leopard Appaloosas are white horses with dark spots all over the body. They can have dark points, such as the head, legs, and neck area, but they normally aren't solid dark. A “few spot leopard” is a leopard with only a few spots, and almost all white.

Snowcap: Snowcaps are similar to the Blanket pattern except that the white area of the hips and croup will not have any spots in it. The white area can extend up to the withers and even cover most of the body. In these cases the horse will usually retain some color on the head, legs, flanks and elbows.

Frost: In the frost pattern, white hairs are spread across the horse’s top line of the horse. They tend to look like roans, but not as extreme.

Snowflake: Snowflake is almost like a leopard, accept the body is dark and the spots are white. Snowflake patterned horses are normally born solid in color, and the spots come out as they age.

Varnish: Varnish Roans start out as normally colored horses, often with appaloosa spotting. This form of roaning usually shows up as an Appaloosa horse ages, often blurring the Appaloosa markings, just like a paintbrush can rub out and blend color spots on a wet canvas. Similar to, but not the same as, greying, it does not start as early as greying does, and sometimes seems to "spread" from the location of the white in the original Appaloosa markings. Varnish Roan is not caused by the roan gene, but is part of the Appaloosa complex.

Breeding facts:

Overo x overo = does not always mean color. Foal has a very good chance of being solid (aka breeding stock).

Tobiano x overo = does not always mean tovero. Foal can be tobiano, overo, or tovero.

Quarter Horse x Paint = Paint. No exceptions. If it's solid in color, it's a breeding stock Paint. Do not call it a QH x Paint. Call it a Paint, it's a purebred.

Thoroughbred x Paint = Paint. No exceptions. If it's solid in color, it's a breeding stock Paint. Do not call it a TB x Paint. Call it a Paint, it's a purebred.

Appaloosa x Paint = Not always colored like both Appaloosa and Paint. Can be solid (if paint sire/dam was not a homozygous tobiano), just the paint pattern, just the appaloosa pattern, or both.