The Coat: Paint Horses come in many colors and patterns. They are white with black, brown, tan, maroon, or gray spotted markings. No two paint horses have the color patterns.

Varieties of Paint Horses: The tobiano is a Paint Horse whose face has markings like those of a single-colored horse (solid or with a stripe or star between the eyes) and whose legs are mostly white. The overo does not have white on its back, the legs are mostly dark, and the head is mostly white. The tovero has characteristics of both the tobiano and the overo.

Pinto (Spanish for painted) refers to any spotted horse, but Paint Horses include only those with established, registered parentage and a certain minimum color requirement (determined by the American Painted Horse Association).