Membership Home > FOAL REGISTRATION

Foal Registration

The easiest way to register a foal is through Online Services.



Report your live foal by selecting Broodmare Activity in the "My Horses" section and supplying the foaling date, color, gender and foaling place. Without having to worry about markings, name choices or signatures, you can speed through the registration process. Your mating certificates can now be released electronically by the stallion owners, so there is no need to wait for the green mating certificate to be mailed to you.

A Foal Registration Application can also be mailed, faxed or emailed to the USTA office.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do I need to register a foal?

You can either fill out a Foal Registration Application and mail, fax or email it to the USTA office or complete your foal registration via Online Services. No matter which method is chosen, in order to complete the registration process, the stallion owner must release a mating certificate, either electronically or by mailing in a green mating certificate, to prove the stud fee was paid. Fees for foal registration are based on the length of time between when the foal was born and when the registration process is finished at the USTA:

Registration fee	Applications postmarked after January 1, 2019
Sucklings (within 4 months of the foaling date)	$150
Weanlings (between 4 months and 12/31 of year foaled)	$185
Yearlings (after December 31 of year foaled)	$450

If the mating certificate is not released by the stallion owner within the time frames listed above, it may result in the next higher registration fee being assessed.

What does the registration fee include?

It includes the registration of your horse, DNA typing and microchipping. If you would like your horse freeze branded instead of microchipped, there is an additional $75 charge, which you can pay to the ID Technician when they come to your farm.

When will my foal need to be DNA typed and how do I get that done? What is the turnaround time?

Without permanent identification and parentage verification, a horse’s registration papers cannot be mailed, ownership cannot be transferred and the horse will not be issued eligibilities to race.

Microchipping (or freeze branding) and DNA typing are completed at the same time and can be done as early as 10 days old. If you report a live foal or register your foal online, the ID Technician in your area will be alerted that a foal in their area needs to be done. To contact your local ID Technician, click here.

Once the lab receives the DNA sample from the ID Technician, it typically takes 5-10 business days to complete the testing.

How do I name a foal?

Names are limited to 18 characters and four words. That count includes spaces, dashes and apostrophes, so you may need to get creative if you have a longer name choice. Names cannot have less than two characters; numbers and symbols are not allowed.

If you want more time to choose a name, you can register your foal as UNNAMED by checking the "Leave as unnamed" box on the application or online. The horse will need to be named before January 1 of their two-year-old year, otherwise a fee will be assessed.

Name choices are checked via automatic processes and, if the name passes those checks, will be sent on to the USTA's naming committee for further review. Some of the automatic checks are:

• it is not an exact match for a horse that has raced or been bred in the past 15 years
• it is not an exact match for a horse that has been awarded honors, i.e. Dan Patch Award, O'Brien Award, Nova Award or inducted into the Hall of Fame
• it is not an exact match for a horse that is considered "outstanding" (has earnings of $100,000 or greater or has a 2:00 or better mark)

Some other name checks that are done at the USTA office include:

• name choices that sound like a name already in use; i.e. if a horse is named Aladdin, we cannot accept the name choice Aladinn
• registered farms may reserve names for their use only, i.e. Hanover, Pan, Lindy
• some names are reserved for a family line. The sire or the dam must have the family name in their own name before it can be used for the foal, i.e. Dragon, Bunny
• names of famous or notorious people, trade names, names used for advertising or names deemed inappropriate will not be approved

Additional rules are outlined in Rule 26, Section 8 of the USTA Rule Book.

How are the breeders and owners of a foal determined?

The breeder of a foal is determined by who the registered owner or lessee of the mare is at the time of breeding.

The owner of a foal is the owner of the mare at the time of foaling. If the ownership of the foal is different (i.e. the mare and/or foal was sold between the time of foaling and when the foal registration is submitted), the transfer section on the Foal Registration Application should be filled out. The mare owner(s) at the time of foaling must sign as the seller.

Whomever is to be listed as the owner of the foal at time of registration (either the owner of the mare at the time of foaling or the buyer of the foal) must be a current member with the USTA for the foal registration to be completed.

When will I receive my papers?

Upon registration, all Registration Certificates are held electronically at the USTA unless otherwise requested. Effective January 1, 2019, if you would like to receive hard copy registration papers, there is a $10 fee to have them mailed. They will be mailed to the first listed owner of the foal.

If hard copy registration papers have been requested, please remember that they will be held at the USTA until the foal has been properly microchipped (or freeze branded) and DNA typed. In addition, any foal that is registered as Unnamed, or if your submitted name choices are not approved, the papers will be held electronically at the USTA until suitable name choices have been submitted (via mail, fax or email).