Getting right to the gist of it: How important would registration papers on a gelding be to you if you were purchasing a trail and/ or endurance horse?
Depends if it was a young prospect or an older proven horse. On a prospect I look at bloodlines to see what is behind the individual horse. On a proven horse, I still look at the pedigree (registered or not) but a proven horse doesn’t need registration papers to compete in endurance. I purchased my older endurance horse as a 13 year old with 2400 miles. She is pure Arab but never registered due to a divorce/dispersal right after she was born.
My next endurance horse I bought as an unbroke long five-year old. She had the conformation and movement I was looking for, as well as the bloodlines I was looking for (registered Arab).
My up and coming prospect, I bred myself and he is registered 7/8 Arab. I registered him just in case he doesn’t work out as an endurance prospect (not likely but possible). This will hopefully give me a bit of added value to his next owner.
Having said all that, my next horse (in 10 years or more!) will be purchased from a breeder that strictly breeds for endurance and performance horses. I want to be very sure of what I’m getting.
Papers are always nice to have but not necessary for the endurance horse.
ETA: I ride to finish, 50’s and 100’s. The first 2 horses are 100 miler horses and I’m hoping the young one will be eventually as well.
[QUOTE=tabula rashah;6872174]
Getting right to the gist of it: How important would registration papers on a gelding be to you if you were purchasing a trail and/ or endurance horse?[/QUOTE]
If the stallion owner is willing to let a couple of years pass and still give you the needed paperwork to register him, I would wait and see if he has the ability to do endurance first and do it well. Otherwise you may put a lot of wasted money into a horse with no talent, and no buyers.
I couldn’t find your original thread, so I am posting here. I know the stud fee is the stumbling block, but getting this guy’s signature while he is available and willing seems prudent if you think there might even remotely be a situation where it would be better for this horse to be registered as a full Arab. You could save the $375 by not registering for years. I registered a horse with a breeder’s signature dated five years earlier.
[QUOTE=tabula rashah;6872174]
Getting right to the gist of it: How important would registration papers on a gelding be to you if you were purchasing a trail and/ or endurance horse?[/QUOTE]
Zero. Unless you want a sweepstakes horse. Which means you would have to have to have the horse win enough to pay for the paperwork, and other expenses.
For an endurance prospect, I prefer to know what the lines are on the horse. I want to have a 100% arab for endurance. Some lines do better than others with regards to performance. But as usual everything is always up to what the individual horse you have in front of you, and how well the rider works the horse. IOW YMMV.
You do not have to have a papered equine to compete and do well in endurance. That is the beauty of endurance riding.
Also this goes for a mare, and or a stallion.
I trail ride Arabs. When my 29 y/o pb was retired I purchased a youngster. I only considered papered purebred arabs and ended up buying a registered 2 1/2 y/o. I would not have purchased or considered a purebred that did not have papers available.
Having the horse’s papers can expand your market if you have to sell him.
Sorry to be late.
One reason I can think of to have papers is if you have a horse in a breed that is offering incentives to owners, for example the ASB folks. That would be true for any sex animal, you’d be competing with other members of your breed for prize money and points. Theoretically you could be only moderately competitive in terms of the event too.
Otherwise the reasons are the same as for any other discipline.
It is also a proof of age for a prospective buyer.
Although an unregistered horse can compete in endurance, registering this horse now will increase his marketability later.
What if you don’t register him now, thinking that he’ll be an endurance horse and won’t really need it? Then have him wash out as an endurance horse? Not every Arab (registered or not) has what it takes to be a competitive endurance horse. My own gelding is proof of that! Registering this horse, while you have the chance to do it, will increase his chances of a soft landing later on in his life, if he should need it.
Do whatever you can now to make this horse worth something to someone later on down the road. Life can change on a dime, and despite your best intentions, he might need those papers later on.
Sheilah
My personal opinion - I think it is important. The bloodlines are shown as part of the horse’s record in the AERC database (tied in from the AHA database), and having those papers adds legitimacy to the horse as being a “pure Arab”, not just a wannabee.
It doesn’t matter if he’s a gelding or not. Those papers are his heritage, and say a lot regarding his lineage and his ancestors, especially to the endurance crowd.
It also matters where the AERC records your horse. I believe to be recorded as a full Arab you have to produce those purebred papers to the AERC office. Otherwise, with no papers he’d be recorded a grade, unless you have his dam’s papers, in which case you can record him as Arab-x or Half-Arab.
My guy was the first Welsh/Arab recorded with the AERC - sired by a pure Welsh out of a pure Arab mare - he came with papers in both registries. I had to send in a copy of his Half-Welsh papers AND his Half-Arab papers in order to have him recorded the way I wanted. They don’t just categorize your horse willy-nilly. To be in any category other than Grade, you have to have registration papers - either his, his dam’s, or his sire’s. Same with my Welsh Section B pony - his papers had to be produced for the AERC to place him in a new category - Welsh Section B. He’s the only one in that new category…for now. 
My friend had a Dutch Warmblood/Arab cross, with papers. But she never sent the warmblood paperwork in. She just supplied the mare’s papers, and so her horse was recorded as an Arab-X.
Papers are always good for any horse to have, even those, like geldings, which are outside the breeding pool.
They aren’t necessary for endurance competition, but as horses and their connections go though changes, keeping the door open for other potential futures for your horse is good sense.
And of course there are breed awards within endurance - registries encourage geldings to be registered because otherwise it is hard to track performance. Even if that is not important to you, it might be to someone else, and adds to the resume of the horse.
So if its a question of registering a horse you have, I’d say “yes” - but I would never eliminate a prospect from consideration for a lack of papers. They are icing, not the cake itself.
