Solaris:

#2

 Papers don't ride.  And I know that some bloodlines can be predisposed to certain things, but the truth of genetics is you never know 100% until you have the horse in hand.  He can have the most gorgeous bloodlines in the world and still turn out a sour-tempered, crooked, sickly cuss.  I don't care who his momma and daddy were, I want to know who HE is.

that's true, so for some it may make sense to start off with as few strikes against him already as you can, by at least knowing where he came from, to narrow the odds in your favor as much as you could.  the truth of genetics, like lots of things, is a two-way street.  but if i'm looking for a heeling horse, i'm probably not going to go look at a horse that has no cow horse in his bloodlines.  and i've known lots of sour-tempered, crooked, hard to get along with cusses that were hellacious cow horses (i.e. Hancock bloodlines).

I'm definately a #2. I have two horses and neither of them are registered. They are just my trail horses and 4H showers if i want. I have a 3yr old that could have been registered with amazing blood lines for TWH, but I don't intend to sell her so what do I need papers for. My other horse I bought from a man who when he bought him didnt want to pay the 100 dollars more jst for a peice of paper and I have to agree with him. I think this world is too focused on papers when there are unpapered horses that are perfectly good.

I feel papers matter a lot.  Even a backyard horse, that you are never going to show or breed, if you have papers you can get in contact with his previous owners, find out what he has done, maybe get pictures of him, as a baby or just when he was younger.  You can ask what his cues are insted of finding out by trial and error.  You can check if he has had any medical issues or quirks.

Also you can go to allbreedpedigree and see his reletives and find out what they have done.

Of course for breeding I would only breed registered horses, as they will have the highest resale value.

papers matter a lot.  i am going this route because it is my personal preference & in hopes to discourage excess breeding (of junk).

In response to Nicholeigh's post...I am all for personal preference, but just because a horse has papers doesn't mean it better than a horse without papers. I have an unregistered Morgan mare who is anything but JUNK. She is calm, quiet and by far the best horse I have ever owned. Just because a horse has papers doesn't mean it is a quality mount. I have seen alot of papered horses I would never ride much less own!!

I would fall under "I'm Indifferent" No. 2.  Had I the opportunity in my younger days or the money now, I would very much have enjoyed the working cow horse activities as well as jumping. And as stated registration is necessary. It's unfortunate especially for instance if you have an extremely talented "grade" horse but not eligible to compete or show off your horse's talent because of lack of registration. Frankly, it stinks. As stated you can't ride or enjoy papers. I don't breed, sell or show. I did breed my mare once because I so love the foals and the joy of watching them play and grow. I have 3 and struggle to make ends meet. The son of my mare has had soundness problems all his life and will never be sound. Such a disappointment but I love him irregardless. They are both registered quarter horses. At the time I bought my mare she was 2 yrs old - Cremello from two registered palomino quarter horses. She was barred from registration. I didn't care BUT felt it was not right. A quarter horse is a quarter horse regardless of color. Her son is an incredibly beautiful quarter horse palomino. I did go ahead and register her and then him when the ridiculous white rule was thrown out and I did that only because the original breeder had sent in her application and it was denied as a weanling. Because of this the registration fee was minimal compared to what it would have been otherwise. My 3rd mare is a PMU rescue I received at 4 months old. She is now 9. No papers, but great horse. That's what counts. I have trained them all myself by watching, reading, learning everything I can. Professional instruction was always a pipe dream for me. The number 1 (Papers matter) people I pretty much feel have no interest in the horse itself, just the monetary and/or prestige gains. Thank you for listening and I enjoy your articles very much. Kathy Camuso

 

Camuso:

The number 1 (Papers matter) people I pretty much feel have no interest in the horse itself, just the monetary and/or prestige gains.

No matter how much interest you have in the horse itself, if your horses are how you make your living, your interest in the horse itself gets pretty hard for you and your horses to eat come the end of the week.  So yes, I guess you could say the monetary gains there are pretty important, and real hard to come by if you don't have any papers.

My point is it's pretty narrow minded to say everyone who thinks papers are important doesn't have any interest in their horses, only the money.

I go for #2. I've got a Grade horse whose perfect for me (except his age, that is), and he cost a third of my brother's registered QH.

1) I will only breed registered horses.  I think it's a better thing for the horse in the long run.  I can put a show record on them and market them to a much larger crowd than one without proof of registration.  Plus, there is a greater chance that I can keep track of them of the years.

3) I have bought a few unregistered horses for very specific purposes (mainly trail riding or 4-H kids) but I knew they were likely staying in a permanent home and resale wasn't an issue.

 While the papers don't make the horse, it certainly can help their marketability.

RopinReins:

It's a toss up for me between 3 and 1. The showing I do, they have to be registered... so I tend to look for ones with papers. With today's horse market, you can get some pretty nice registered horses for the $$.

Another thing to consider, with the genetic issues out there, I'd be wary on those non registered horses - wondering if their papers had been pulled based on their bloodlines or status and then not knowing just what I may have purchased based on the lack of papers. There are many sellers out there advertising grade horses to which the papers had been purposefully lost.

 I saw an awful lot of young halter horses run through an auction recently without papers.  I talked to the agent and found out their pedigree-and that definitely told me why they were paperless!  A genetic issue like that are good reason to buy with papers (and make sure the horse was DNAd to make sure they match).

#2 all the way!  Bailey, my new Tb mare is registered (Daily's Desire) and while it is neat to look online at her family tree(and found out from her papers where she was born), it doesn't mean that much.  I want the horse, not the papers.  Registered horses can still have horrible things in their bloodline, and have horrible confir. just as easily as a grade horse can.  As far as breed specific shows, they are neat, but 1) Im not a shower and 2) those people are snobs! (Im just joking, a friend of mine does Saddlebred and Arabian shows, and she is the most unsnobby person I know)  Papers can be a good thing, but overall they just don't make it or break it for me.