Appaloosa
Horse Association
of New Zealand

service@appaloosaassn.co.nz
Office hours: Tuesday to Thursday 12 noon to 3pm, Wednesday evenings until to 8.30 pm
Phone: 07 3228222

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Choices: fees and forms / contact

Register your Appaloosa

There is no better way to increase the value of your Appaloosa than to register it with the Appaloosa Horse Association - New Zealand's official breed registry.

An Appaloosa registration certificate acts as an identification card giving proof of appearance, brands, age, parentage and suitable conformation. This means that when you buy a registered horse, you can be sure that it:

a) is the age the seller claims that it is
b) is the horse the seller claims that it is
c) has achieved what the seller claims that it has
d) can compete in any event, whether open or closed breed
e) can be used to breed registered offspring
f) is not stolen, and the seller is authorised to sell it

and in the equine world, those guarantees can be very important! So, if you have the choice between a registered horse and one whose age you don't know, whose parentage you don't know and the extent of its useful life you don't know... which will you choose?

To draw a parallel - you wouldn't purchase a car without papers, and you would have trouble selling one without papers...so, register your horses, and ask for proof of registration when buying. It's not expensive, and it's worth every cent.

Make a copy of the ApHANZ Handbook your ultimate reference guide when reviewing a horse's eligibility for registration. This book is free to new members, otherwise costs the enormous sum of $10.00 from the ApHANZ office. Purchasing it is easy; just send a cheque for $10 and a note asking for the Handbook.

How to register your Appaloosa

Appaloosas are progeny registered after birth, and registered as an adult after the age of 2 years. Registered Appaloosas must have achieved the height of at least 14 hh by the age of 5 years. The horses have often changed markedly in appearance in their first two years, making it necessary to update their recorded physical appearance.

Which form?

If your Appaloosa is under the age of 2 years, use the progeny registration form. If it is 2 years or older, use the adult registration form. When adult registering your Appaloosa, choose from these categories of registration:

Permanent registration: horses which display sufficient Appaloosa characteristics and coat markings. Such horses have full showing rights.
Breeding Stock: mares or stallions with no Appaloosa characteristics, but with parentage qualifying them for registration.
Solid Gelding - geldings with no Appaloosa characteristics, but with parentage qualifying them for registration.

If registering an adult Appaloosa that has not been progeny registered, please talk to the secretary to negotiate any tricky obstacles.

Filling out the forms

A registration certificate is an official document so it's important that it is filled out truthfully, accurately and completely. Remember, this document increases the value of your horse but only if it is absolutely accurate!

One of the most tricky aspects is accurate identification of your Appaloosa's colour and coat pattern, so to help out, we have examples for you to refer to. Remember, accurate recording each of your horse's markings is vital!

Base colour

Choose from the following base colours to describe your Appaloosa:

Brown
Bay
Chestnut
Dun
Buckskin
Grulla
Black
Palomino

Bay vs brown: bay horses have dark points on their knees and hocks and a darker mane and tail, brown horses are the same colour all over.
Dun vs buckskin: dun horses have a dark dorsal stripe along their spine and often have stripes on their legs and forequarters.

Coat pattern

Choose from the following coat pattern to describe your Appaloosa:

Roan: A mixture of white and dark hairs, sometimes displaying a lighter area on the forehead, over the back, loin and hips with darker areas on the frontal bones of the face, legs, stifle, above the eye, point of hip and behind the elbow.
Roan blanket: A mixture of white and dark hairs over a portion of the body, normally, but not limited to, the hip area.
Solid: base colour other than white with no contrasting colour in the form of an Appaloosa coat patterns
Leopard: A white horse with dark spots over the entire body.
Blanket: A solid white area normally over, but not limited to, the hips with a contrasting base colour.
Spots: White or dark spots over some, or all, of its body.
Roan blanket with spots
Blanket with spots: A white area, normally over, but not limited to, the hips with dark spots located within the white.

White sclera

Indicate whether your Appaloosa has white sclera in the left and right eyes.Sclera is an area of white surrounding the eye. It should be clearly visible, and is not to be mistaken with white visible should the eye be rolled or stretched wide open

Striped hooves

Indicate whether your Appaloosa has vertical stripes on its hooves, for each hoof. These are alternating dark and white stripes on hooves on legs which do not have white leg markings.

Mottled skin

Indicate whether your Appaloosa has mottled/speckled skin on its muzzle, around its eyes and/or genitals.

Leg markings

Choose from the following to indicate how far up your Appaloosa's legs white markings exist, for each leg:

Heel: a white marking across the entire heel or just on one side.
Coronet: the first 2.5 centimetres above the hoof, extending all the way around the foot and including the heel.
Pastern: extends from the top of the hoof to the bottom of the fetlock joint.
Fetlock: extends from the top of the hoof to the top of the fetlock joint.
Half-stocking: extends from the top of the hoof to the midway point of the cannon bone.
Stocking: covers the leg extending from the top of the hoof to any point above the knee or hock.

Face markings

Star: on the forehead, in the area above the eyes. If there are two white marks on the forehead, the most distinct is referred to as a star, while the other is simply a white mark, referenced in location to the star.
Stripe: avertical marking below eye level and above the nostrils.
Snip: below the nostrils, down to and including the lower lip.
Blaze: a combination of all the above, beginning above the eyes and ending below the nostrils.
Bald face: a large blaze extending outside the eyes, covering the width of the bridge of the nose and over the entire muzzle.