Pinto Draft Registry, Inc.
P.O. Box 738
Estancia, New Mexico 87016
www.pinto-draft-registry.com
The Pinto Draft Horse is a beautiful horse of Pinto color. In breeding, is half to full draft horse. The combination of Pinto coloring and draft substance was for emphasis on color and strength in a magnificent, flashy draft horse. It is ideal for those who appreciate the power and full body of a draft, together with eye-catching spots.
Mention of Pinto Draft Horses can be found throughout European history and date back to medieval times, when they were used as warhorses. Knights rode them into battle and used them for jousts.
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom has had Pinto Draft Horses at her court and in her breeding program. They were used to carry two big drums in parades and special events. During these parades, the horses were ridden with a big drum on each side, which were played by the rider. The most famous of these horses is the 17 hand Gypsy Drum Horse, Galway Warrior, which stood at stud in the Queen’s royal stable for several years before he was imported to the United States in 2002 when he was nineteen years old. He now resides in Colorado, where he stands at stud along with a Gypsy Vanner stallion.
The Pinto Draft is known for its willingness to work, endurance, and great heart. Gayle Clark/Pinto Draft Registry
In the United States, the horses are known as Gypsy Drum Horses and stand 16 hands and taller. They are eligible for registration as both a Drum Horse and Pinto Draft Horse.
Pinto colored draft horses in the United States can be traced back to the 1920s, and were called “Spots” by the old-timers. In the 1920s and 1930s, these horses were used for farming. Originally, there was no registry for these beautiful colored draft horses. Like the other draft breeds, they became fewer in number as the tractor took over farming.
Recent History
Horse breeders Lowell and Gayle Clark had been breeding drafts for Pinto color since the mid 1970s. In 1977, they bought their first team of black, tobiano draft horses, Dick and Jane, and used the team in pulling contests in Colorado and New Mexico. The horses were an impressive team, standing at 16.3 hands, and their flashy coloring turned many heads. Dick and Jane were Colorado State Pulling Horses from 1978 to 1980, when the Clarks moved to New Mexico. The horses drew much interest in colored drafts, resulting in many questions about the origins of their coloring. Dick and Jane were traced back to their previous owner, Lynn Roller of Iowa, who at one time had twenty teams of Pinto spotted drafts. Dick and Jane were half brother and sister, and their common sire was a black Percheron stallion that was one of the finest Percheron horses in the United States.
Combining color and great strength, Pinto Drafts are magnificent flashy horses. Ginny Gable/Pinto Draft Registry
In 1980, the Clarks bought a seven-month-old stallion named Pecos Chief at a horse auction in Kansas. His dam was a big, black tobiano draft mare, and his sire was a black Percheron. In 1981, the Clarks showed Pecos Chief at the tender age of one at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, where he won third place in the Open Draft Halter Class, competing among twelve other draft horses.
That is when the queries really started coming: “Wow! What a beautiful horse!” “What kind is it?” “There should be a registry for these magnificent horses.” Wherever the Clarks went, they heard these were familiar comments, which showed there was an obvious interest in the horses like this throughout the United States.
Dick, Jane, and Pecos Chief were used in pulling contests and shown at many fairs in Colorado. The biggest show was the National Western Stock Show in Denver, where the Clarks’ horses drew great interest. The Clarks drove a Pinto draft, four-up team (four-horse hitch), in the Great Circus Parade in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 1993 through 1997. They also drove their team in many other parades, such as the Scottsdale, Arizona, parade, the largest of all horse parades west of the Mississippi River. As always, their horses drew much attention, and the main question was, “When will there be a registry for these beautiful horses?”
The question was finally answered when the Clarks founded the registry for Pinto Spotted Draft Horses in 1995, with some help from Leonard and Kittie Tostenson of Minnesota. The Clarks promoted the breed with their stallion, Pecos Chief. It was also promoted through the Horse Progress Days in Indiana and Ohio and at the first-ever Equitana USA, held in 1996 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Their efforts were successful, as the horses’ presence at these events really sparked interest in the Pinto Spotted Draft. At the end of the registry’s third year, there were 234 horses registered, and by 2000, there were 1,331 registered. A top-selling stallion brought $14,500 at the Kalona Draft Horse Sale in Iowa, and the top-selling mare sold for $95,000.
In 2000, the registry split, and the Pinto Draft Registry (PDR), Inc., was founded in 2002 by Gayle Clark, which accepted full and half draft horses of Pinto color. PDR is a color registry and was established to promote beautiful draft horses of Pinto color.
Outstanding Pinto Drafts
Pecos Chief held the title of Supreme Champion Stallion at the New Mexico State Fair for many years. This was an award for the top winner of points in all classes, from Halter to show and Fun classes. His get also won many show awards. After turning twenty-eight years old in 2008, Pecos Chief produced a lifetime of show wins and outstanding progeny, several of which were homozygous offspring. (This means they carry the dominant genes that will produce coat pattern no matter what color horse they are bred to, whether solid or pinto marked.)
The Clarks now have six generations of Pinto Drafts of Percheron breeding in their horses. Pecos Chief and his offspring—many of which are all over the United States—have proven themselves in the show ring and in breeding. In 1998, Peter Stone made a model horse of Pecos Chief, and the following year he made the model of Pecos Banner’s Papoose, a granddaughter of Pecos Chief. They are now collector models.
Today in the show ring, the Half-Draft/Sport colored horses are making a name for themselves. At this time they can only be shown in Open and Fun classes, like Farm Team Race, Obstacle Course, and Farm classes. Open classes can be any of the show classes identified as that. In 2002, there was a show in Texas just for the Pinto/Spotted Draft, and a year later, the Florida State Fair added show classes for the Pinto/Spotted Draft for the first time. Little by little, they are being added into the show world.
Demand for Pinto Drafts is becoming more evident. One of the Clarks’ horses, a bay tobiano named Toby, was trained as a hunter and vaulting horse and sold for $20,000. He was a three-quarter draft gelding whose bay dam was half Quarter Horse and half Percheron. Breyer made a model of him, also.
One of Pecos Chief sons, Kashari, sold for $20,000 in 1995 after he won the Training Level at an Arizona show. He was trained as a three-day event horse and was out of a half Appaloosa, half draft mare. This stunning black tobiano was sold before the registry began.
The breed is certain to grow in popularity in the years to come. There is much interest in the Pinto Draft and the Half-Draft/Sport Horse today. Many like the color of the Pinto on a 17-plus hand horse weighing 1,800-plus pounds. It is an awesome sight.
Standards
Horses accepted in the registry must be half of any of the six draft breeds, which are Percheron, Belgian, Clydesdale, Shire, Suffolk Punch, and American Cream. The half division must be that of one-half of one of these draft breeds. The light horse breeds accepted for cross-breeding are Thoroughbred, American Quarter Horse, Pinto, Paint, Morgan, Arabian, any sport horse, Friesian and three gaited Saddlebred, and Gypsy Drum Horse. No Appaloosa, Walking Horse, Racking Horse, American Saddlebred, Standardbred, pony, or donkey bloodlines are allowed. Stallions must have a DNA test done and have a breeding report on file with PDR before their get can be registered.
Increasingly, Pinto Drafts are enjoyed for riding. This is a foundation stallion. Ginny Gable/Pinto Draft Registry
There are three divisions:
• Division A: Pinto Draft—has seven-eighths or more of draft breeding and has a Pinto spotting pattern. It must mature to 15 hands or taller. With one generation of pedigree, the papers will read: A-Pinto Draft. If the pedigree is unknown, the papers will read A-Pinto Draft Grade.
• Division B: Pinto Half-Draft/Sport Horse—has at least one-half, and up to seven-eighths, draft breeding and has a Pinto spotting pattern. Must be 15 hands or taller when mature.
• Division C: Breeding Stock are horses that qualify for Divisions A and B, but are horses of solid color. They can be full Pinto Draft or Pinto Half-Draft/Sport Horse. The papers will be marked as stated previously.
Geldings will be accepted under Divisions A and B, but no solid colored geldings will be accepted under Division C.
The Pinto Draft should have conformation that closely reflects the draft type they most resemble—Percheron, Belgian, Suffolk, Shire, or Clydesdale type.
Generally, the frame should be large, supported by clean dense bone and strong muscled forearms and thighs. Legs are placed well under the horse. They have intelligent heads with active ears and powerful, arching necks, which are clean cut at the throat. Shoulders tend to be upright, suitable for power rather than action, and the back is short and strong. Ribs spring high from the backbone. The hindquarters are long and smooth to the root of the tail, which springs up higher than other breeds. The hip bones are wide apart and smoothly covered; the croup is usually level. Depth and thickness from the withers to the legs are essential, and should be deep in the flank and over the heart.
Most of the horses in the draft divisions have their tails docked, but it is up to the individual owner’s discretion. The half-draft horses’ tails are left long.
The average height of the Pinto Draft is 15 to 17 hands. They weigh from 1,600 to 1,900 pounds.
The Pinto Draft Horse is impressive with its flashy color and draft substance. Ginny Gable/Pinto Draft Registry
Color Requirements
Pinto Drafts are most often tobiano or overo spotted in pattern and can also be a combination of the two patterns, called tovero. Any base color is acceptable, though the most popular is black, bay, or sorrel. The PDR is a color registry, thus the horses must display Paint or Pinto color markings.
The three recognized color patterns are:
Tobiano: A horse with tobiano (toe-beeah′-no) spotting appears to be white with large spots of color often overlapping on the horse, with a greater percentage of color than white. Spots of color typically originate from the head, chest, flank, and buttock and often include the tail. Legs are generally white, giving the appearance of a white horse with large, flowing spots of color.
Overo: An overo spotted horse appears to be a colored horse with white markings. These spots of white appear to be jagged and originate on the horse’s side or belly, spreading toward the neck, tail, legs, and back. Color appears to frame the white spots, thus an overo often has a dark tail, mane, legs, and back line. Bald or white faces often accompany this pattern. Some overos show white legs along with splashy white markings, seemingly made up of many round lacy spots. The location of the white is generally not the same on overo horses as tobiano, although white legs appear to be more common. White almost never crosses the back on an overo.
Tovero: A horse that shows characteristics of both the tobiano and overo.
The Pinto Colored Draft has a splendid disposition. It exhibits a ready willingness to work, great endurance, and a quality known as heart, for which it is well known. It is used for agricultural work, pleasure driving, parades, commercial carriage pulling, showing, logging, and riding, as well as a vaulting horse (broad-backed circus type horses used with gymnastic maneuvers).
In general, the Pinto Draft is an easy keeper, like that of many draft horses. It exhibits the mild, laidback temperament of the draft horse that makes them so desirable. Their best quality is the conformation and easygoing attitude of the draft horse.
Credit: Pinto Draft Registry, Inc.