AQHA Horse Ownership Transfer FAQ’s

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Updating the ownership of an American Quarter Horse represents a vital part of AQHA’s mission statement: protecting the integrity of the American Quarter Horse breed.

As stated in the post AQHA Transfers – The Multiple Transfer Process, it’s important to make sure the horse you’re purchasing has an updated ownership record. Even then, there are a few bumps you might hit along the way. Read on for the three most common issues we see when completing ownership transfers.

Need to transfer your horse? Find transfer forms and other paperwork on AQHA’s Forms page.

Question: Why did I get charged for a new membership? I already had one!

Answer: When filling out the buyer’s line of the AQHA transfer report, your name must read exactly as it does on your AQHA membership card. If what you wrote doesn’t match anything in our records, we think it’s a new owner and therefore create – and bill for – a new membership for that person. To correct this issue, AQHA requires a signed statement if the ID number was not included on the transfer report. When in doubt, contact AQHA Customer Service for that information.

Question: I made a mistake on my transfer, marked through it and corrected it. Why am I being asked for verification?

Answer: Information such as the date of sale and the buyer’s name can affect several things outside of the transfer. AQHA uses these dates to determine things such as stallion breeding reports, foal registration documentation and foal ownership. Alterations to the date of sale and the buyer’s name will always require verification from both the buyer and seller. This is one way AQHA prevents fraud. If I got your transfer, marked out your name and put mine in place, and AQHA didn’t check out the situation, that horse would belong to me on AQHA’s record.

Question: The person I bought the horse from is not the last person listed as the owner according to AQHA records? 

Answer: Since AQHA needs to make sure our records are as accurate as possible, we do not knowingly skip an ownership. We do not have a deadline or penalty as to when a transfer should be submitted to AQHA, nor do we charge any type of additional fees, only one $20 transfer fee will be required. We also do not require in between buyers to be current members. Only the ultimate buyer is required to have a current AQHA membership. A transfer report will be needed from each person who owned the horse, along with with horse’s original certificate of registration.

Check out our transfer video tutorial for a visual walk-through of the transfer report. Again, you can find the transfer report form at aqha.com/forms. And of course, don’t hesitate to contact us if you have questions!