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Paint Spirit
From the moment it appeared in cave drawings 20,000 years ago, the paint has captivated the human imagination. Paint Spririt captures the fascination of the breed that embodies the spirit of the American West.
63 pages, Paperback
First published January 25, 1998
About the author
Audrey Pavia
57 books8 followersAudrey is a former magazine editor and author of 23 books about animals. She currently lives in Norco, Calif., with two cats, two dogs, two horses and three chickens.
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
June 13, 2025
I'm so old, I was subscribed to Horse Illustrated when Audrey Pavia became its editor. I thought, "Great! I enjoy her articles. They're lively."
But this book is a total disappointment. It's filled with misinformation that, granted, might not have been known in 1998, the year this book was first published. For example, the Hildago legend that a hit movie was based on, turned out to be complete fiction was not known until long after this was published.
But claiming that Thoroughbreds were added to Quarter Horses long after the breed was established ... Audrey, Audrey, Audrey. The foundation sire of the American Quarter Horse was a Thoroughbred born in England named Janus (also known as Young Janus or Janus II). Thoroughbreds were constantly paired with stock-type horses or Mustangs to create and further refine the Quarter Horse. There's a joke that is at least as old as 1950:
Q: What's a Quarter Horse?
A: A Thoroughbred without papers.
Also wince-inducing was claiming that paints were a breed long before paints actually became a breed. The various pinto color patterns have shown up in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, for a fucking long time. Pinto is a color. Paint is a breed. There's no indication that there was a concentrated effort to breed pintos before America in the late 1800s. Appaloosa breeders spout this shit, too.
Of course, Pavia just wrote what the breed associations told her to. That's what pet magazines do to make money.
But anyway, back to the book.
And there's not much of it. This is a very slim, sparse reference book often filed in the children's section of libraries. It was originally aimed at adults, if I'm remembering the ads for the Spirit of the Horse series correctly. The print is small, the margins HUGE, lots of full-color photographs and large chunks of completely empty white space.
The photographs were all done by Bob Langrish, who was the primary photographer for Horse Illustrated back in the day. He also freelanced. Although he clearly liked horses, he's no Robert Vavra. The photos are pedestrian, with occassional glimpses of horse nature, such as a foal peeking through his mother's tail.
None of the horses or people are identified, although the name MIKE HUGHES is prominently displayed on a fancy silvery show halter. He was a big breeder at the time. There is currently a popular Western trainer named Mike Hughes, who you can see on YouTube, but I don't think he's the same guy.
It seems odd that there's no mention of rabinicos, toveros, splash whites or frame overos, considering how often they pop up in the model horse world ... and on the coats of real horses. You can see some horses in here that might be considered "pintaloosas".
And there's no mention of solid colored Paints ... which happens. The foals have Paint parents, but are born with regular, solid coats with normal hints of white on the legal and face. They are absolutely necessary to keep a breeding herd of Paints healthy.
Because breeding for color can be deadly. Look up Lethal White Overo Syndrome ... and see the real Paint Spirit.
But this book is a total disappointment. It's filled with misinformation that, granted, might not have been known in 1998, the year this book was first published. For example, the Hildago legend that a hit movie was based on, turned out to be complete fiction was not known until long after this was published.
But claiming that Thoroughbreds were added to Quarter Horses long after the breed was established ... Audrey, Audrey, Audrey. The foundation sire of the American Quarter Horse was a Thoroughbred born in England named Janus (also known as Young Janus or Janus II). Thoroughbreds were constantly paired with stock-type horses or Mustangs to create and further refine the Quarter Horse. There's a joke that is at least as old as 1950:
Q: What's a Quarter Horse?
A: A Thoroughbred without papers.
Also wince-inducing was claiming that paints were a breed long before paints actually became a breed. The various pinto color patterns have shown up in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, for a fucking long time. Pinto is a color. Paint is a breed. There's no indication that there was a concentrated effort to breed pintos before America in the late 1800s. Appaloosa breeders spout this shit, too.
Of course, Pavia just wrote what the breed associations told her to. That's what pet magazines do to make money.
But anyway, back to the book.
And there's not much of it. This is a very slim, sparse reference book often filed in the children's section of libraries. It was originally aimed at adults, if I'm remembering the ads for the Spirit of the Horse series correctly. The print is small, the margins HUGE, lots of full-color photographs and large chunks of completely empty white space.
The photographs were all done by Bob Langrish, who was the primary photographer for Horse Illustrated back in the day. He also freelanced. Although he clearly liked horses, he's no Robert Vavra. The photos are pedestrian, with occassional glimpses of horse nature, such as a foal peeking through his mother's tail.
None of the horses or people are identified, although the name MIKE HUGHES is prominently displayed on a fancy silvery show halter. He was a big breeder at the time. There is currently a popular Western trainer named Mike Hughes, who you can see on YouTube, but I don't think he's the same guy.
It seems odd that there's no mention of rabinicos, toveros, splash whites or frame overos, considering how often they pop up in the model horse world ... and on the coats of real horses. You can see some horses in here that might be considered "pintaloosas".
And there's no mention of solid colored Paints ... which happens. The foals have Paint parents, but are born with regular, solid coats with normal hints of white on the legal and face. They are absolutely necessary to keep a breeding herd of Paints healthy.
Because breeding for color can be deadly. Look up Lethal White Overo Syndrome ... and see the real Paint Spirit.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review