THE BREEDING OF HORSES 185 



A pedigree certificate of registration (Fig. 120) has no nego- 

 tiable value unless properly issued and executed by the officers 

 of the association whose seal and signature it bears. Its value, 

 even then, is contingent upon the standing of the association. 

 Formerly an accredited list of studbooks was issued and vouched 

 for by the United States Department of Agriculture, but their 

 authorization has since been withdrawn, and the standing of the 

 different associations is based on the personnel of their officers 

 and members. 



The eligibility rules for registry are dra'wn up by the asso- 

 ciations themselves and are not uniform in their requirements. 

 The term " pure-bred," as applied to the different breeds, has 

 a significance that is arbitrarily determined by the respective 

 associations. For instance, a horse may be " pure-bred " on the 

 basis of eligibility to registry in the French Draft Studbook yet 

 be ineligible to the Percheron Studbook, and therefore of impure 

 Percheron breeding. In the same way a " pure-bred " Morgan 

 may not be eligible to Standard registration and, as a matter of 

 fact, may possess but a small percentage of Morgan blood, on 

 account of the open nature of the Morgan register. 



When a pure-bred, registered horse or mare is bought for 

 breeding purposes, the pedigree certificate often plays a more 

 important part in the transaction than the horse itself. The 

 real value of such a horse lies in the blood lines which he is capa- 

 ble of transmitting, and no just claim to these blood lines can be 

 made unless verified by a pedigree certificate. Title to breeding 

 can be conveyed by no other means. Many pure-bred stallions 

 are deprived of the full credit to which they are entitled through 

 the carelessness or indifference of owners in keeping up records 

 and transfers. 



Duplicate pedigree registry certificates can be secured upon 

 application to the secretaries of the associations and by sub- 

 mitting satisfactory evidence that the original has been lost or 

 destroyed. 



Eligibility to registration is established by conforming to the 

 rules of entry of the registry associations. These rules are not 

 uniform in the different associations, nor are they fixed, but are 

 subject to change whenever authorized by vote of the association. 



