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CREMELLO/PERLINOS | WHITE MARKINGS

In October, AQHA’s Studbook & Registration Committee met during a special session. The meeting was called to give the committee time to fully review information gathered by staff to discuss certain registration rules due to the limited time the committee has during its annual meeting each March during AQHA’s Convention.

“This is a positive, proactive way the Stud Book & Registration Committee can evaluate important rules that affect all members,” said AQHA President Jim Shoemake. “As I have said before, AQHA maintains its right to draft, adopt and administer rules that have been democratically passed by its members, but just as importantly, we understand that we have an additional responsibility to continually review current rules as to their effect on the Association’s members and the breed. I am proud of the members of Stud Book & Registration for taking the additional time necessary to review these rules.”

Two specific rules that the committee felt needed a closer look were Rule 227 (i) and Rule 227(c). The committee’s recommendations will be presented to the general membership and the board of directors in March during the annual convention in Anaheim, California.

CREMELLO/PERLINOS

Based on information requested by and presented to the committee from veterinarians, geneticists and veterinary ophthalmologists, the committee voted to recommend that 227(i) be deleted.

If approved by the board, horses commonly referred to as cremellos and perlinos, which are horses that exhibit light (or pink) skin over the body; white or cream-colored hair; and blue eyes will be eligible for registration, provided they meet all other registration guidelines.

Rule 227 if cremello rule (i) only is deleted. (The stud book & registration committee also is recommending striking paragraph (a) from 227. However, that section has nothing to do with cremellos, perlinos or the white rule).

227. HORSES NOT ELIGIBLE FOR REGISTRATION

(a) In instances where the Executive Committee passes on the eligibility of a male horse for registration, the Committee shall have the authority to accept the horse as a gelding only and require that before it will be accepted for registration, the horse will have been gelded and evidence furnished AQHA that it has been gelded.

(b) Any breeder violating these rules is subject to disciplinary procedure of AQHA, as foals are ineligible for registration which result from one of the following, unless parentage is established through genetic testing:

  (1) a band of mares run in a pasture where they could be exposed to more than one stallion of breeding age.

  (2) A mare bred to or exposed to more than one stallion during a breeding season within a 30 day period.

(c) White Markings: No horse having white markings with underlying light skin beyond any one of the following described lines shall be eligible for registration by AQHA:

  (1) A line parallel with the ground drawn around the front leg at the point halfway between the point of the elbow (the center of the olecranon tuberosity or proximal epiphysis of the ulna) and the protrusion on the back of the knee (the accessory carpal bone or lateral styloid process).

  (2) A line parallel with the ground at the center of the gaskin on the hind legs. (The center of the gaskin shall be defined as an imaginary point on the front of the gaskin equidistant between the stifle joint and the center of the hock). The top point of reference to be the bony protrusion on the inside (medial) of the stifle region (technically known as the medial condyle of the tibia) and the most prominent bony protrusion at the top and inside of the hock (technically know as the medial malleolus of the tibia).

  (3) A line around the horse's neck immediately behind the poll and through the midpoint of the throat latch.

  (4) Within an area described as two inches on either side of the ventral midline, beginning at a point midway between the front legs and extending to, and including, the sheath and udder.

  (5) Additionally, there is allowed a single area of white markings with underlying light skin, such that it can be completely covered with a disk one inch in diameter, either free standing on the horse's body or being a portion of white marking extending past the above prescribed lines.

(d) Non-breeding stock, being spayed mares, or mares with such limitation designated on its registration certificate, shall not be eligible for breeding purposes or otherwise produce foals eligible for registration, nor compete, or otherwise participate in halter classes of AQHA-approved shows, but may compete in performance events for which they are otherwise eligible.

(e) When a horse is inspected for possible excessive white markings, the owner will pay AQHA a $50 inspection fee prior to the inspection. If the horse is found to be eligible for registration and its actual markings are shown to be as indicated on the registration application and other material submitted, the inspection fee will be refunded. Such inspection will be made on regular inspection tour only.

(f) When a registration application shows the horse to be registered has white markings beyond the prescribed lines, excessive white markings or white spot or spots, pictures of the horse shall be required and the horse may be inspected before its eligibility is determined and the application is processed.

(g) No horse is eligible for registration which possesses markings or condition characteristics of a Paint, Pinto, Appaloosa, or cremello, whether or not such markings or condition is, or could be, the result of inherited traits, or of an organic or abnormal physical condition. Once registered, should a horse develop such markings or conditions, the registration may be revoked. In determining eligibility for registration or revocation of registration, the burden of persuasion that the horse is eligible for registration lies with the registration applicant. Absence of reproductive capabilities as a gelding or spayed mare shall not lessen the standard by which the horse's markings are evaluated. Areas of white, pink or mottled skin located on the horse's genitalia, including the sheath or udder, in the axillary region (armpits), or inside the hind legs including the inner surface of the hindquarters up to and including the ventral surface of the tail and which are not readily visible when the horse is in a standing position are not considered white markings as described in (c) above.

(h) The registration certificate of any horse having white markings beyond the prescribed lines, excessive white markings, or spot(s) shall be subject to cancellation where the registration application fails to indicate or misrepresents the horse's actual markings.

(i) No horse is eligible for registration which possesses all three characteristics; light (or pink) skin over the body; white or cream-colored hair over the body; and eyes of a bluish cast.

(j) Noncompliance with rules 209(a)(b).

This diagram is an approximate illustration of eligible white markings without requiring parentage verification under Rules 210 (b)(c)(d) and (e). The actual provisions of the rule take precedence in its effect on a particular registration matter, as conformation of a particular horse does not, in each case, coincide with the dimensions of this diagram.

WHITE MARKINGS

In a separate discussion, the committee also reviewed the rule restricting the amount of white markings a horse can have and be eligible for registration. The committee voted to recommend amending rule 227(c), commonly known as the “white rule” to allow the offspring of registered American Quarter Horses (numbered to numbered; numbered to appendix; or numbered to Thoroughbred) to be eligible for registration regardless of white markings. Horses displaying white markings beyond the lines in the diagram shown, must be parentage verified. Parentage verification is matching the DNA of the offspring to the DNA of both parents.

Verbiage for Rule 227 if restriction on white markings is deleted.

227. HORSES NOT ELIGIBLE FOR REGISTRATION

(a) Any breeder violating these rules is subject to disciplinary procedure of AQHA, as foals are ineligible for registration which result from one of the following, unless parentage is established through genetic testing:

  (1) a band of mares run in a pasture where they could be exposed to more than one stallion of breeding age.

  (2) A mare bred to or exposed to more than one stallion during a breeding season within a 30 day period.

(b) Non-breeding stock, being spayed mares, or mares with such limitation designated on its registration certificate, shall not be eligible for breeding purposes or otherwise produce foals eligible for registration, nor compete, or otherwise participate in halter classes of AQHA-approved shows, but may compete in performance events for which they are otherwise eligible.

(c) Noncompliance with rules 209(a).