The AQHA Name Rule
March 31, 2009
All the ins, outs and in-betweens of naming your American Quarter Horse.
I find myself intrigued most days about some of the names owners and breeders come up with for their American Quarter Horses. I’ve seen plays on words; made-up-on-the-spot-for-the-occasion names; we-must-have-let-that-one-slip names; cliché names; and the ever-popular pedigree names. I get a chuckle each day wondering, “How in the heck did they think of that? I never, in a million years, woulda thought of that name!”
AQHA Customer Service Rep Kayla Randall
What and how an American Quarter Horse can be named is a common question. AQHA does have rules that tend to change from time to time regarding naming a horse. I’ll explain these rules, plus tell you how to change your horse’s name if you decide you don’t like it, or didn’t pick it in the first place. Check out the AQHA Rule Book for a complete look at AQHA rules and regulations.
Naming your AQHA foal (Rule 214):
- The horse can be named anything you like. Although many people prefer to, you are not required to name your AQHA foal according to pedigree.
- The name cannot be longer than 20 characters (this includes blank spaces and numbers and is simply because AQHA computer systems are not programmed to allow more).
- Arabic numerals (1234…and so on) are permitted at the end of a name so long as there is a space between the name and number placed on the end.
- Punctuation marks are not permitted (so if you are looking at DASHS DIGIT, there is no apostrophe in the word ‘dashs’ because it is not allowed per AQHA rules).
- Keep the name clean. (We do attempt to red flag anything that seems inappropriate.)
- You have to have written permission from John Wayne to name your horse John Wayne. (The same goes for every celebrity.)
There are your basics when looking to name your AQHA foal. Now check out some of the exceptions.
Reusing a name (Rule 214d):
- The horse must be deceased, and that must be reported by the current record owner of the horse.
- The horse cannot have competed in any AQHA-approved event (This confuses many people – by ‘not competed,’ we mean cannot ever have raced, even if it came in dead last and cannot ever have even set foot in the ring of an AQHA-approved show.)
- The horse cannot have any offspring with a performance record (show or race).
- The horse cannot have earned a special achievement award. (Horseback Riding Program is considered an award/achievement on the horse’s part, so the name cannot be reused. Incentive Fund or Challenge nominations are not considered awards/recognition, so that name could be reused so long as the horse – as stated above – was never shown or raced.)
- The horse cannot have any produce or get younger than 10 years of age, and the horse’s produce or get cannot have received any of those awards/achievements or special recognitions.
That seems like a lot of exceptions, but I see a lot of names that are eligible for reuse. With more than 5 million horse names in our database, you’re bound to come across one if you ever need to!
Now, have you ever purchased an American Quarter Horse, looked at his certificate and went bug-eyed at his name? Drove away with your new horse in tow wondering how on earth you are going to take a horse called ‘Pick My Booger’ to a show and live through it? No boogie, I mean biggie. Just change his name!
Changing a horse’s name (Rule 215):
- The horse cannot have competed in any AQHA approved event (show or race – same as reusing.)
- The horse cannot have earned a special achievement award. (see Rule 440)
- The horse cannot have earned any money or award with an AQHA affiliate as shown on AQHA records.
- The horse cannot have ever appeared on any breeding document submitted to AQHA or have any registered offspring. (This means that if said horse is a mare, said mare cannot even have been on a breeding report – even if the breeding was five years ago and didn’t result in a foal.)
Those are the rules. If you want to change your horse’s name, we need a signed statement requesting the change and your name choices. You may send one name choice or 10. Just be sure to number them. One is your favorite, two the second favorite and so on. The fee for name change is $50 ($90 if your membership is not current). And, before you ask, yes, you can send a name change request with your transfer when you purchase the horse, and we’ll take care of you!
So there you have it. Your horse’s name in a nutshell. It’s about that time. Spring foals are on their way. Good luck naming your babies!
Have any questions about your horse’s name? Have a great name you want to share? Have a funny name? Post a comment!
As always, at your service…
Kayla Randall
AQHA Customer Service
Comments
17 Comments on “The AQHA Name Rule”
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April 2nd, 2009 at 12:58 pm
I love the new personal approach to explaining the rules and regulations! It is so much friendlier and makes navigating the steps for registration, name change, etc. easier and fun! Thanks for the changes! Kathleen
April 3rd, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Nice write up. Makes it easy to understand. Now if there was a magic way to get a good foal pictures for their registration papers. LOL!!
April 5th, 2009 at 8:25 am
nice way to make it easier to understand how to name the new baby and explaining rthe registration steps.thanks on the personal approach.
April 5th, 2009 at 8:27 am
nice way to make it easier to understand how to name the new baby and explaining the registration steps.thanks on the personal approach.
April 5th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
This article takes the pain out of trying to name the new foal. Sometimes this could be applied to naming a new human baby too.
April 16th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Beth,
Get down on your knees to take the photos, I have found they come out much better. Doesn’t make your foal look like they have a big head and no chest… less chance of catching shadows as well.
We have 2 new 2009 fillys on the ground so far… now begins the “name game”!
Good Luck with the photos.
Donna
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:07 pm
This was very helpful and easy to understand. I found out what I needed to know about re-naming.
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Does the AQHA have a Register of names already used like the APHA so that owners of foals needing registration could refer to it prior to submitting names already chosen?
Might already exist; just couldn’t find it on your site.
Many thanks.
April 26th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Hi!
How do we find out if a name is taken?
Marcie Michael
April 27th, 2009 at 9:10 am
Lorraine and Marcie,
AQHA does have a program located in the Member Services area of our Web Site that allows a possible foal name to be verified. You may type in the name you want for the foal, and the system will check to see if the name is already in use. You must be a member to utilize this feature. If you are, and have your PIN number, log into Member Services on http://www.aqha.com and click on Horse Research at the top of the page, then Research Foal Names. AQHA Customer Service will also look up a possible name for you over the phone.
Pleas feel free to contact AQHA Customer Service at 806-376-4811 Monday-Friday 8-5 CST with any questions you have.
Kayla Randall
AQHA Customer Service
June 25th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
i need to transfer ownership of a mare. not sure how to do this? she may be double registered, not sure?
can you help?
thank you,
linda
July 23rd, 2009 at 11:21 am
What form is used to change a horse’s registered name? Do all Novice Shows count as an AQHA approved events?
Thank you!
July 23rd, 2009 at 11:41 am
Meggan,
Thank you for your comment! AQHA does not have a form to change a horse’s name. Simply write and sign a request containing the current registered name/number of the horse and your new name choices. You may include more than one name choice if you wish, just be sure to number them in order of preference. AQHA needs your request, the horse’s current Certificate of Registration and the $50 name change fee.
Even though Novice points are not necessarily part of a horse’s acheivement record, Novice exhibition still prohibits a horse’s name from being changed.
If you have further questions, please leave another comment or contact AQHA Customer Service at 806-376-4811 Monday-Friday 8-5 CST.
Kayla Randall
AQHA Customer Service
January 27th, 2010 at 6:12 pm
I want to reserve an “untaken” name for my 2010 foal that has not yet arrived. I thought there was a way to do this, but I can’t seem to find any information about the procedure.
Insight?
Thanks,
Tracie
March 17th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
how do i find out if my horse is registered?. i have been told he is a registered quarter horse and have his breeding records but not the registered papers.
June 21st, 2010 at 10:49 am
The perfect addition to this article would be a pointer or link to the names database. This would help in checking to see if a name had been taken, and possibly get “inspiration” from similar names as that being considered.
July 12th, 2010 at 7:09 pm
when running a business, the first thing you should do is always establish a good customer service”:’