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Registration Papers vs. Legal
Ownership
Q:
Can someone legally own a horse if their name is
not on the horse’s registration papers?
A: In a
word, yes. Registration
papers are not equivalent to legal ownership, but they
can provide helpful evidence of ownership.
For example, if you sell a horse on installments
and the buyer does not complete paying for the horse,
you are still the legal owner of the horse if the buyer
does not pay you in full (even if the registration
papers list the buyer as the owner).
Most breed registries consider the
registered owner to be the lawful owner of a horse until
and unless they have reason to believe otherwise.
Accordingly, when you purchase a horse, it is
very important to transfer ownership into your name on
the breed registry’s records, even if you never plan
to show or race your new horse.
Likewise, if the legal ownership of a horse is in
dispute, you should contact the breed registry and
inform them of the dispute so that the horse cannot
immediately be transferred into the name of someone
else.
For more
answers to questions about registration papers, see
The
Difference Between Registration Papers and a Bill of
Sale, What
to Do When the Seller is Not the Horse’s Registered
Owner, Getting
Duplicate Registration Papers and
Obtaining
AQHA Registration Papers.
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