How do I find out of my horse is registered?

[VelvieLilly]

Hello, so back in July I got my own horse (yay!), he's a sorrel/white paint horse gelding. I do not know his background at all really but I was wondering if there is any way I could find out if he is registered with APHA? I also found this registry called "Pinto horse association of America" and if turns out he's not registered is there any way I could register him with PtHA even though I don't who his parents are?

 

[Karma]

APHA won't be able to tell you if he is registered if you do not know previous owners name or his sire and dams name and birth year. I'm guessing you don't have a registered name for him since you don't know if he is registered. Even so they can't tell you much and without the previous owners being willing to sign over any paperwork, it likely won't matter whether he is registered or not. I also would be hesitant to try to find out since papers especially ones from a colored registery that plac so much importance on documenti ng color, I'd be afraid the previous owners if they did have papers would attempt to use that to get the horse. That said some registries do allow hardship registration on spayed mares and geldings, though I don't know if APHA does as all mine have been fully registered and I can not find anything on their site so I would contact them and ask. Basically, it just gives them a number to be able to compete in APHA shows.

The good news is that PtHA will register colored mares and gelding with no known background as long as they meet minimal white requirements, stallions though must be from a registered PtHA horse. If you have local PtHA shows it may be worth it to go through them. The bad news is in some areas because of the above PtHA is looked at as a lesser registry though in our area their shows are just as nice as the AQHA and APHA held in the same arena (our state fairgrounds) and have a high turnout.

Here is the big thing, unless you REALLY want to show breed shows, or don't have anything else available in your area, there are open shows which accept horses of any and all breeds. What exactly are you wanting to do with him? If you just want to enter county fair shows, local open lower rated shows or schooling shows, or rodeos or gymkhanas, there really isn't a need to register him. Though I know in my area there is some prejudice against colored horses at Hunter shows specifically so registering them with APHA or PtHA pays off letting us show and place in Hunter classes when we wouldn't be able to touch a 1st - 3rd in open shows against the big warmbloods that are so popular up here with even our best paints.