A 'Registered' Horse?? Not.

I keep seeing horse ads that say something like 'he can be registered. I have the paperwork but never filled it out. He'll be 6 in May'.

My comment? So freakin' what! He's a grade horse! No extra value is assigned because you have paperwork that COULD be used.

If you will check the requirements of just about any recognized horse registery (not the vanity ones, like a certain gaited Appaloosa one...*ahem*), you'll see that after the first year or so, the registration fees start to really jump. For each year thereafter, the price really jackrabbits till about the age of 4 or so. A disclaimer: I haven't kept up with a bunch of registeries for several years but I do know about several so it's up to you to do your due diligence.

After about 4 or so, the horse can't be registered unless it's some sort of hardship. That's where doing some sleuthing really helps.

Only holding some paperwork in your hands on a 12 year old that some dipstick is too damn lazy to fill out and send in (plus money) doesn't mean a thing. You have a grade horse on your hands, period.

I do know of one registery that if you find a stud horse that wasn't registered but he fits the bill in all respects, he can be gelded and registered as unknown/unknown (meaning as no one officially knows who is sire and dam are...even if known, doesn't mean anything as he's still a gelding). He can't be left a stud and registered. Now seems like not too long ago, I did read that that might have changed or is going to be changed so, again, do your due diligence. The same with a mare. If you can get her spayed, a costly procedure last I heard, she can be registered as unknown/unknown too.

Why would you want to get the papers then? If you want to show your horse in recognized breed shows and potentially up his value, then you need the papers. Bascially, as long as they can't be bred, then you may be able to hardship them.

Another reason you need papers is to help prove ownership. If you can't register him in a recognized breed association, the next best thing is one of the 'performance' horse registries or a color registry, like the Buckskins (good grief, I couldn't find it!) or the primarily Appaloosa one, http://www.ipshr.com/. The performance ones are like the Sporthorse registries, http://www.isroldenburg.org/, http://www.americansporthorse.com/registry.html and a lot of others. They do have requirements but if you can't register any other way (or way too expensive), then these are a fairly good idea. It's something, at least.

But don't fall for the line that he 'could' be registered. If he was really worth anything in the first place, the owner would have practically fallen over themselves getting them registered in the first place!!

Ride safe everyone!!