American Quarter Horses come in an eye-popping array of colors, often topped off with unique white markings that provide a good means of identification. But what about those good, solid Quarter Horses that are, well, literally solid?

AQHA registration certificates can reflect a number of distinguishing characteristics that can be used to identify a horse, whether he has no white markings or you just want to be as thorough as possible. It’s important that your horse’s registration certificate is an accurate reflection of what he looks like.

Being able to identify your horse is crucial. You may choose to sell your horse later – and the buyer will want to be sure he’s getting papers on the right horse – or you could be separated from your horse in a natural disaster and need to prove that he’s yours. The scenarios are almost endless.

Whorls

Yes, those swirls on your horse’s forehead – or elsewhere on his body – can be noted on his papers. Defined as “hair growth that forms a spiral pattern,” whorls are sometimes thought to indicate personality traits. We don’t know about that, but we do know they can be good identifiers.

The mare Kate Muddleton is a good example. She’s a solid chestnut with no white markings, but her registration certificate notes that she has a “double whorl at eye level.”

Brands, Scars and Tattoos

These identifiers likely were not present when your horse was registered as a foal. That’s why AQHA will add them to registration certificates free of charge. The owner must send in the horse’s registration certificate, along with a diagram showing the shape and location of the scar or brands, and the date of injury or branding, if known.

Other Options

So that your horse’s registration certificate describes him as fully as possible, these descriptors can also be added:

Roan patches or patches of scattered white hair.

Patches of darker-colored hair.

Dark spots within white markings.

Microchips

Microchip identification numbers can be recorded on a horse’s permanent record, kept on file at AQHA, and on his registration certificate.

Although they are not visual identifiers, microchips make sense for a number of reasons:

1. Microchipping improves consumer confidence and validates breed integrity. If your horse is microchipped and that ID number is recorded with AQHA on the horse’s permanent record, then the buyer knows for certain that’s the horse you, the seller, say it is.

2. Microchips result in increased efficiencies. In the future, technology will be employed to scan in horses at the check-in line at a show facility or a racetrack, and a computer program will pull up those horses’ registration and show or race paperwork, eliminating the need to also check in at the show office.

3. Microchips help you recover an animal in case of natural disaster or theft. Many organizations, like the American Association of Equine Practitioners, tout this as a key reason to microchip your horse.

The AQHA Microchip Pilot Project www.aqha.com/microchip was launched in March. Voluntary microchipping of horses is encouraged as part of the pilot project, as AQHA has for a number of years been able to record a horse’s microchip ID on its registration certificate and in the Association’s database.

You can report your horse’s microchip ID number by including it on your application when you apply for registration, or if your horse is already registered, by sending us a copy of it to add to your horse’s permanent record.