What is an American Paint horse’s temperament like?
admin on February 27th, 2010
Are they laid back or quite fiery like a thoroughbred or warm blood?
it varies according to the horse. just like any breed you will find complete nut cases and you will find ones so sweet it’s unbelievable. It also depends on the way they were trained. my paint mare is a doll to be around , her 1/2 sister is a total ***** go figure. Like I said it all depends on many circumstances
very….horsey
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it varies according to the horse. just like any breed you will find complete nut cases and you will find ones so sweet it’s unbelievable. It also depends on the way they were trained. my paint mare is a doll to be around , her 1/2 sister is a total ***** go figure. Like I said it all depends on many circumstances
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The Modern day Paint horse has a lot of Quarter horse blood running through its veins…although horses like any other animal or person on earth are all individuals…I would think that there would be a lot of QH characteristics in the Paint horse.
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Depends on the horse, like in most breeds, you’ll find everything.
PS I would argue with you on calling warmbloods "fiery"
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their usually alot like a QH very calm and laid back but it really depends on the individual horse ive met one who you could set a bomb off in her face and she wouldn’t flinch and ive met one who was convinces that giant horse eating tigers were around every corner and she felt she had to alert is to their presence so it really all depends on the specific horse.
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i havent found them any different than my quarter horses in temperment but like any other breed they have so many temperments.it all depends on the upbringing and the mare that foaled them.i have one that thinks he is a 1500 pound dog and one that is hard to catch(mine are pastured not stabled)my dog horse is a brat and i have owned him since he was 1 year old and was spoiled rotten before i got him.the other i got when he was 2 and was pasture born and never saw a human up close till i got him but now put a halter on him he is a perfect gentleman(only took 3 years to get him that way and rides perfect)
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it reallly depends on the horse, but they tend to be cool. if a horse has been abused, it will probably be more hot tempered and prone to bad behavior than a horse that has spent its whole life being ridden lightly and not doing much.
hope that helps
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books
personal experience
It really depends on their breeding. Or more like WHAT they are bred for. Just like if you buy a western pleasure qh, its most like going to docile and well temperd ,whereas if you buy a hunter/jumper qh you should expect more speed "hotter" if you will. I have an APHA and 2 AQHAs and they all are very docile. I consider my paint the calmer and more level headed of the three though, as my others are APPENDIX qh’s. But he wasnt always easy going. When we first got him he bucked, kicked, and had no manners. A year later, you would NEVER tell hes the same horse. So even though he was "bred to be a bucker" with proper training he is suitable for the most beginner riders to do anything on.
heres a link to a vid of my paint phoenix: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpvyWVpZnQo
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Depends on the horse…mainly on a scale of 1-10 1 being never spooked and 10 been spooks a lot and buck and rear they are probably a 7.
hope i helped!
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happy hoLIDAYS
They are very calm, quiet and pleasurable. They are a very smooth ride, and I would recommend them to a beginner rider (as long as you get a well trained one)
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It depends on how they are bred, not the breed as a whole. You can breed for western pleasure and get a nice laid back horse, or breed for speed and get a hotter horse. List teh bloodlines you are looking at and you can get better information on how that particular line’s temperment is.
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Horse Owner for 35 years. Lifetime member of APHA. Own 7 paint horses
Let’s consider what a Paint horse is – it is a Quarter horse or Thoroughbred with excessive color. That should give you a good idea of their temperment.
In my experience, AQHA or APHA horses that are bred to do cattle work tend to be more energetic and lively than many others in their breed. I consider a cattle horse to need characteristics of a border collie, they need to be energetic, hard working and focused or they couldn’t do their job. So that end of the Paint breed tend to be a bit more frisky and lively.
The AQHA and APHA horse that is bred to be Western pleasure horses are in general very quiet, laid back, forgiving and easy going. Most of those horses naturally want to move slowly, they often are non-spooky and calm even as foals. These are the types of horses that I am mostly involved with, and if you were to come to a Paint show you would see that that sort of horse is incredibly sensible and quiet as a whole. I see young horses stand rock steady as kids on scooters, barking dogs, umbrellas, applause and everything else goes on around them.
Many Hunter under saddle or jumping type Paints have a large amount of thoroughbred in them. Don’t forget that a registered Paint only needs on parent to be a Paint, the other can be a registered Thoroughbred, so some Paints are 3/4 Thoroughbred (or more!) and will have that breed’s temperment more than a Quarter horse temperment. These horses are often higher strung, somewhat more spooky, more energetic and less laid back. An English horses needs to move out willingly, a totally asleep horse often cannot do as good a job as a horse with a more energetic nature.
So I agree with your other posters that there is a big variety in a Paint horse’s temperment. On the whole I would say the breed is one of the more quiet and easy going breeds – generally much less fiery than my friend’s lovely Morgan horses, less reactive than Arabs and Thoroughbreds, but livelier than the draft breeds. I totally disagree with the one poster’s comments that a Paint would be a 7 on a scale from 1-10 of spookiness. In general many Paints would rate very low on this scale, perhaps only matched by the Quarter horse, some pony breeds and some draft crosses in quietness. Don’t forget that not every horse with patches of white are Paints – there are many pinto colored horses in every breed from Saddlebreds to Warm Bloods, and you cannot compare their temperment to a Paint’s temperment as they are bred totally differently, for totally different jobs.
This of course doesn’t count for the huge variences in how horses are trained and raised, which can totally change your horse’s natural temperment. But that is a totally different topic altogether, and much too long for today!
I hope that helps.
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I own, show and train Paint horses in Canada.
Almost every Paint horse I know is laid back, curious, friendly and level headed. I’ve not seen a fiery one yet.
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well, paints can only be a ture paint if it is 65% QH or TB, so it will have a QH or TB temperment–not too hot–not too lazy–simple.
my paint is sort a wierd…one minute she is as slow and lazy then all of a sudden, she’s prancing and crowhopping all over.
she is a QH paint.
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My paints are Mr. Norfleet bred they all have a good calm personality & a real willingness to learn. Like others have mentioned..you will find problem horses in every breed. I think they are the best in all around performance & good looks.
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You will get everything from calm to hot. Some are more thoroughbredish, some are more like a draft breed.
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It really varies from breeding and such. But one thing remains the same…it takes a certain person to get along with a paint. I was once told that by an old indian cheif in Las Vegas when I went to Paint World Show. He said he believes that a person is drawn to a paint because they have kindred spirits.
Overall they are very warm, loving, forgiving and tolerant animals. Most paints I’ve owned have a wierd sense of humour. And so intelligent. My favorite boy will poop in one place while he is tied. And I have seen him actually move to the perfect measurements to make the barn grooms step in his crap. And low and behold he’ll start shaking his head and smiling…literally smiling. And my others are full of themselves.
They know they are all beautiful and unique and most aren’t afraid to show it and they won’t ever let YOU forget it.
.
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breeder, trainer, competitor, and ranch owner. APHA, AQHA, NCHA, NRHA, NRCHA, and NARHA member.
and retired equine and large animal veterinarian.
I agree with paintgirl.
I have owned them most all my life and they have all been good hearted, willing, and have a nice nature.
Of course, with every breed, there is always a bad apple in the bunch!
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My QH Paint is very laid back. He is a bit on the lazy side but for me that is fine. My sister in law likes to say "At least when you fall off you’ll be in your yard"
I hobbled him for the first time Sunday (with my trainer) and after a half dozen tugs to try to get out of the hobbles he just stood there for an hour.
I think it depends on the horse more than the coloration.
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