The Pintabian horse is an American

part-Arabian A part-Arabian, partbred Arabian or, less precisely, half-Arabian, is a horse with documented amounts of Arabian horse breeding but not a purebred. Because the Arabian is deemed to be a breed of purebred horse dating back many centuries, the m ...

horse breed A horse breed is a selectively bred population of domesticated horses, often with pedigrees recorded in a breed registry. However, the term is sometimes used in a broader sense to define landrace animals of a common phenotype located within a l ...

. It has over 99%

Arabian The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...

blood, but also exhibits the

tobiano Tobiano is a spotted color pattern commonly seen in pinto horses, produced by a dominant gene. The tobiano gene produces white-haired, pink-skinned patches on a base coat color. The coloration is almost always present from birth and does not c ...

color pattern, which is not found in purebred Arabians. The registry began using the term "Pintabian" in 1992 and

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from ot ...

ed the word in 1995. which is the official registering authority for Pintabian horses worldwide.

History

Foundation Pintabian horse breeders developed the breed by

backcrossing Backcrossing is a crossing of a hybrid with one of its parents or an individual genetically similar to its parent, to achieve offspring with a genetic identity closer to that of the parent. It is used in horticulture, animal breeding, and produ ...

tobiano horses to

purebred Purebreds are " cultivated varieties" of an animal species achieved through the process of selective breeding. When the lineage of a purebred animal is recorded, that animal is said to be "pedigreed". Purebreds breed true-to-type which means the ...

Arabians for a minimum of seven generations until a strain of tobiano marked horses over 99% Arabian blood had been developed, at which point the breed was considered a

horse breed in its own right. The Pintabian Horse Registry was established in 1992.

Characteristics

The conformation of Pintabian horses reflects the same ideal desired for the

. The defining characteristics are their coat pattern and percentage of Arabian blood. Pintabian horses have a small muzzle with large nostrils and big, wide set eyes. Their forehead is broad with a concave face and small ears. The neck is well arched and connects smoothly to a sloping shoulder. The legs are straight with clean, flat bone and hard

hooves The hoof (plural: hooves) is the tip of a toe of an ungulate mammal, which is covered and strengthened with a thick and horny keratin covering. Artiodactyls are even-toed ungulates, species whose feet have an even number of digits, yet the rumi ...

. They have a short

back The human back, also called the dorsum, is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral column runs ...

with well sprung ribs and a relatively level

croup Croup, also known as laryngotracheobronchitis, is a type of respiratory infection that is usually caused by a virus. The infection leads to swelling inside the trachea, which interferes with normal breathing and produces the classic symptoms ...

with a high carried

tail The tail is the section at the rear end of certain kinds of animals’ bodies; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammal ...

. They normally stand and weigh .

Breed qualification and registration

To qualify for registration, Pintabian horses must display tobiano markings. Pintabian horses may also display Sabino or

Overo Overo refers to several genetically unrelated pinto coloration patterns of white-over-dark body markings in horses, and is a term used by the American Paint Horse Association to classify a set of pinto patterns that are not tobiano. ''Overo'' is ...

characteristics and be of any base color including Dun,

Gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be compose ...

and

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

. To register a Pintabian horse, at least one parent must be a registered Pintabian horse with tobiano markings. The other parent may be another fully registered Pintabian, a solid-colored horse with over 99% Arabian that has been recorded in the Breeding Stock Division, or a horse of "purebred Arabian heritage" registered in the Arabian Outcross Division. The resulting foal will be over 99% Arabian blood and must have tobiano markings to be registered with the Pintabian Horse Registry, Inc. as a Pintabian horse. The registry does not accept any horse for registration that is less than 99% Arabian. A "Foundation Pintabian Horse" is an "influential" registered Pintabian listed in the Foundation Pintabian Horse Stud Book, which contains over 200 horses registered from 1992 through 2001. A "Foundation Pintabian Breeder" is the recorded breeder of any horse listed in the Foundation Pintabian Horse Stud Book.

PartPintabian horses

The Pintabian Horse Registry, Inc. also registers PartPintabian horses, offspring that have one Pintabian horse parent and tobiano markings. The other parent can be a horse or pony of any type or bloodline. The registry also registers non-tobiano offspring of the same type of cross as "pleasure variety equines." A horse with pinto markings and at least 50% Arabian breeding may be eligible for registration as a "half-Arabian" with the

Arabian Horse Association The Arabian Horse Association (AHA) is the single national organization that is the only breed registry that registers Arabian horses in the United States. It also works with the United States Equestrian Federation to sanction horse shows and l ...

. Thus, Pintabian horses may be "double-registered" as both Pintabian horses and as a "half-Arabian" horses if they have one parent that is a purebred Arabian registered with the Arabian Horse Association or Canadian Arabian Horse Registry. In spite of their very high percentage of Arabian breeding, however, Pintabian horses cannot be registered as purebred Arabians.

References

{{Equine, state=collapsed Horse breeds Part-Arabian breeds of horses and ponies