registry question

[july]

has the stud books ever been "re-opened" in the days gone by to allow new blood into the registry.

[figaro]

That's an interesting question....and ever so often I hear the pros and cons discussed of opening up our registry to allow new blood in. I think a few years ago someone suggested that we open up the registry to allow an influx of Dutch Warmblood blood into our registry. I've heard the same argument for allowing Tennessee Walking horses and Standardbreds in. I think the AKC has allowed this at least once that I know of – I think years ago the Basenji Registry imported some unregistered dogs from Africa and allowed them to breed with existing AKC Basenjis and their offspring were registered. I think they were trying to improve on some medical and disposition issues. Not sure if this is accurate but I do remember being told this when he had a show dog. Of course our breed is a hodgepodge of various breeds – we have Hackney, Standardbred, Morgan, Thoroughbred and a host of others in the mix. A few years ago several questioned whether or not the Saddlebred gene pool was adequate enough to sustain our breed. A study was done and the results indicated that we are in fine shape. Of course we have families are very prolific in our breed…it’s darn near impossible to find a saddlebred that doesn’t have at least one cross to Supreme Sultan and/or Wing Commander. I often inquire about the pedigree of a horse and the owner will proudly exclaim, “He’s a great-grandson of Wing Commander!” Well….most of them are!

[july]

was it ever done back in the 1800 early 1900

[jeri]

July
The books have been open a few times. ASHA has a record of when those times occured. I am sure they would share that information with you. I knew when those times occured at one time, but have forgotten. I believe the books were open more often in the earlier years. I think that would make sense. I am probably going to cause some dissent, but I believe our breed now might benefit from opening the books up again. JMO.

[D_BaldStockings]

was it ever done back in the 1800 early 1900

From ASHA:
the Thoroughbred Denmark FS was foaled in 1839
trotting-bred Harrison Chief was somewhat later -check the ASHA registry
In the 1880s, breeders of this unique type of horse began to call for the formation of a breed association and registry. Charles F. Mills began compiling pedigrees and formulating rules for a registry.

Shortly thereafter, The Farmers Home Journal, a newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky, called for a meeting on April 7, 1891. Thus, on that day, the American Saddle-Horse Breeders’ Association was established in Louisville, Kentucky. Under the leadership of the first Association President, John B. Castleman, the objectives of collecting, recording and preserving the pedigrees of saddle horses in America began.

for comparison
Morgans:
It was not until after the Civil War that any official stud or herd books were published in the United States. However, Daniel C. Linsley, a native of Middlebury, Vermont, compiled and published a list of more than 200 stallions of Morgan breeding at the end of his book Morgan Horses:A Premium Essay in 1857. Linsley continued to encourage Morgan breeders and owners to submit their horses' pedigrees to him for publication in the Vermont Stock Journal. Linsley published this periodical in 1857 and 1858.

In the 1890's owning a purebred (thus registered) animal became a status symbol. The use of the term "breed" began to be used rather than "family." Some horses were registered in more than one stud book to take advantage of being available to a wider range of mates for breeding purposes (thus increasing income through stud fees and sales of offspring). The most common overlap for Morgans was dual registration in the Trotting Register, but the American Saddle Horse Register was used as well, and some horses were triple registered. As a companion to the Morgan Horse and register, Battell published the American Stallion Register. The latter was a source of information on stallions appearing in Morgan pedigrees but not eligible for registration in the Morgan registry.

After eight years of painstaking work, the first volume of the Morgan Horse and Register was published in 1894, and contained nearly 1,000 pages of pedigrees and breed history.


US Thoroughbreds:
The first volume of The American Stud Book was published in 1873, by Col. Sanders D. Bruce, a Kentuckian who had spent almost a lifetime researching the pedigrees of American Thoroughbreds. Bruce closely followed the pattern of the first General Stud Book, producing six volumes of the register until 1896, when the project was taken over by The Jockey Club.
The Jockey Club was formed in 1894 and assumed responsibility for maintaining The American Stud Book two years later.

the English TB studbook:
It was left to James Weatherby, through his own research and by consolidation of a number of privately kept pedigree records, to publish the first volume of the General Stud Book. He did this in 1791, listing the pedigrees of 387 mares, each of which could be traced back to Eclipse, a direct descendent of the Darley Arabian; Matchem, a grandson of the Godolphin Arabian; and Herod, whose great-great grandsire was the Byerly Turk. The General Stud Book is still published in England by Weatherby and Sons, Secretaries to the English Jockey Club.


The Saddlebred books were open to performance proven horses until approximately the 1940's, and account for earlier pedigrees with 'holes' in them where ancestry was unknown. After that period pedigrees determined eligibility; I suppose mistakes and 'ringers' have occurred from time to time. Since DNA and bloodtyping that has become unlikely -about the mid-1980's.

A decision was made to 'open' the books to include South African Saddlebreds, some of whom trace in some lines to turn of the 1900's mares obviously not in the US book. Though controversial it has helped refresh US lines with valuable links to families that had fallen further back in American pedigrees and were becoming rare.

hope that wasn't too much info.

[july]

this is excatly what i was looking for :) thanks