Anyone know much about either registry? From my understanding, they are operated by the same person. The DNA one was supposedly made especially for clones. They aren’t picky though about knowing dam/sire and I have an auction horse I saved (gelding) that I would like to get SOME kind of papers on. He is microchipped already as well. I think the DNA registry has only been around for a year or so. Not even sure if my guy would qualify for Half QH but they say you can get a certificate of ownership still without being fully registered.
When it comes to legalities, your bill of sale, vet records and other receipts are a greater proof of ownership than a piece of paper from some “registry” which is probably nothing more than an excel file on someone’s home computer.
I wouldn’t waste my money registering a grade horse with unknown parentage. If anything, I would record the horse with the USEF if I were planning on showing.
Save your money.
Will USEF take a grade horse for recording?
USEF doesn’t care about either pedigree or registration.
Thanks. I’m going to look into USEF. May be my best option. They have a handful of shows in my state which is cool.
What is your objective in wanting your gelding registered??
Year end awards? Ownership? ??
USEF doesn’t care if you have your horse registered or not if all you want to do is compete.
ownership and feeling a “part” of something, you know? Most of my barn is AQHA and my rescue gelding is the odd one out lol
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One way to quickly suck any enjoyment out of owning horses is to try to keep up with the Joneses. There is no need to register your horse. Registering your horses with some bogus registry that doesn’t have breed shows/points will probably only make the more experienced horse owners in your barn raise their eyebrows and chuckle to themselves. Don’t try to keep up with everyone else. If you feel pressured to do so, find a different barn. Life is too short to live by someone else’s expectations.
Registration papers don’t prove ownership; your bill of sale from the auction does.
Before you join any organization: what do you want to do with your horse? Do you ride English or Western? Which discipline within those very broad umbrellas? Are you interested in educational activities, shows, or casual get togethers like trail rides? Do you want to do stuff with people at your barn, or do you have the ability to trailer out on your own and would be just as happy building an extended community of friends outside your barn?
Once you have an idea of what you want to do, you can start figuring out which group makes the most sense to join. Maybe it’s USEF. Maybe it’s a local organization that has shows your barn friends go to in addition to breed shows. Maybe it’s something else.
There are many, many organizations that are not breed restricted and will welcome you and your horse. Don’t start by trying to pick an organization and then figure out what it offers in your area; figure out what is available in your area that interests you and then pick the one that will be the most fun and beneficial to you.
Edited to add: I looked at the Half quarter horse registry and they do require one registered parent.
I can’t see where papers would matter much on a midlife gelding. If you want to increase his value, his actual performance and training will do that. And if the registry isn’t linked to a breed show circuit, then you don’t get any extra opportunities that way.
There may be some argument for less strict/respected registries for mares, if you plan to breed them, or for colts from unregistered mares. Here in Canada we have the Canadian Sport Horse registry, which is less strict/respected than the Canadian Warmblood registry, which in turn is less strict/respected than the actual registries for Oldenburgs, Hannoverians, Duth WB, Thoroughbreds, etc. And OK, I realize that maybe breeding grade mares isn’t the smartest idea, but if you were, registering the foals as something would be a sensible marketing move. “Registered Sport Horse” sounds much better than “unregistered colt by TB sire out of grade mare.”
The whole point of a registry is to have a family tree on a horse. That makes it easier to predict the talents of a foal or prospect, and the offspring of breeding stock. The more “open” European warmblood registries let in new bloodlines if the horse meets fairly strict standards, and also require horses born of registered parents to meet those standards before being registered. The “closed” breed registries rely on just having two parents who are already registered, regardless of quality. That’s why there is more variation in performance ability between an excellent quarter horse and a poor one, than there is between the best and the worst of registered European warmbloods.
Would the Half QH registry even consider registering an older gelding of unknown parentage? Even DNA testing cannot reveal the parents if they are not in that database.
Id put that effort into teaching him a skill so he can prove himself, not a piece of paper that says he’s a grade horse from a virtually unknown registry.
Only spend the money for USEF recording if you plan on showing at usef shows.
Otherwise use your money to buy your horse a nice blanket and some treats and just enjoy him.
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I had a grade mare who I bred to a registered QH. The resulting foal was accepted in the half QH Registry because I had a proof of parentage. This was almost 20 years ago and if they are still around I am guessing you need something similar.
Any registry you’re able to register him under will not make you feel “part of something”. They just want to take your money. Half qh registry is useless. You can’t show in the AQHA stuff, so you will still be the “odd man out” in your barn. Whatever discipline you do, find your local association. Join it. Your horse will be registered in it and then you will actually be part of something. Even if you just trail ride, there is an association for that! Don’t waste your money on “papers”. I promise these things were only created to take your money
Registration is A proof of ownership but not THE proof of ownership.
For blooded stock keeping a horse registered, even gelding, is a Good Thing. It allows a breeder to follow their production and, if horses they’ve produced do well in a discipline, it’s a selling point for both foals and breeding services.
It allows a buyer to research more than just the horse in front of them and learn about breed and line within a breed characteristics. For a young horse this can be quite valuable.
It gives a measure of “bragging rights.”
The fees generated by registration allow a breed registry to promote the overall breed. And “a rising tide floats all boats.” 
The world doesn’t end if blooded gelding owners don’t keep up with registration.
For “rescue” rescue horses I can’t see any reason to spend money on registration.
G.
I’m guessing you don’t live in a brand inspection state but since you’ve not included where you are:
If you DO live in a brand inspection state, your brand inspection proves ownership, and trumps papers. A brand inspection has nothing to do with the horse having a brand (although that is recorded) and is just a state agency confirming the sale and ownership of the horse is legit. Any horse sold or transported in a brand inspection state must have a brand inspection.
Most brand inspection states are out west. This is what a permanent card looks like from Colorado. On the reverse there’s more info about the horse and my details as owner. The brand boards across several states keep track of this stuff and can track a horse back that’s been sold fraudulently.
When I left Colorado, I really didn’t need to purchase a permanent card for this particular horse–a simple travel permit would have sufficed, for less $$–but after a LOOONG time of needing permanent cards on my horses, I felt more comfortable having that one additional piece of ownership documentation…
I registered a few of my horses with the PHR (which is apparently ending sigh)- they were animals that I knew parentage and age sort of thing but were not eligible for any purebred registry and not suitable for presentation to CSH/AWS for breeding approval so that I had a convenient piece of paper with age, known bits of pedigree, and markings. I did this after I realised my one grade pony had been 15 for 5 yrs and when I asked his previous owner he had been 15 for a few years there as well - you just don’t think about it and having it all on one bit of paper makes it much easier to check! So if the price is realistic I don’t think it is such a bad idea to pick which ever one you like and get it done.
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I’m in the Northeast and I don’t think we have this. It sounds really helpful though.
If registration is important, get a properly registered horse.
Any other kinds of made-up registration papers will just not be what the OP thinks they are or represent.
In the western horse world, if a nice horse doesn’t has papers, I would question why and first run a five panel test, to be sure that is not the reason some possibly unethical breeder sold him without paperwork.
That would be more important than finding some odd registry to just have some paperwork for him.
Don’t know what discipline you are pursuing or what that requires where you are, if you want to compete with your horse.
In open shows, you can show without presenting any papers, other than the rare breed class some may offer.
So you can in performance venues, like team penning/sorting, working cowhorse, cutting, reining, barrel racing and roping.
If you want to show in breed shows, then there you need that breed’s registration certificate.
If you want to be part of any specific breed horse world, as you say they may be where you are, then you need to start with a duly registered horse in that breed.
Since that is not what you have, you should look further than your barn.
Good luck figuring where you and your horse fit, but I bet that you will find some place that will be just right for both of you.
