Frequently Asked
Questions:
WHAT IS MEANT BY
"CLOSED BOOKS"?
The stud book of any registry is based on specific rules and regulations for the
horses included in the stud book. These horses have met a pre-set criteria for
inclusion. ICAA does not accept for registry or inclusion in the stud
book any horse that is half-Quarter Horse, half-Thoroughbred, half-Arabian,
half-grade, half-Any Other Breed. By not accepting any outside breed or any
unregistered horse as an appropriate sire or dam for ICAA's progress in
re-developing the Appaloosa as a breed, the "books are closed" to
those breeds. Breeding stock within ICAA must be a registered Appaloosa that
meets all Appaloosa traits and characteristic standards.
WHAT REGISTRIES ARE
ACCEPTED AS PROOF OF PEDIGREE?
As reference registries, the ICAA recognizes horses registered with the following registries, as long
as ICAA qualifying standards for the registry classification applied for are
met:
- Appaloosa Horse Club
of Canada
- Appaloosa Horse Association of New Zealand
- Appaloosa Horse Club
and its affiliates
- Colorado Ranger Horse Association on a specific
case-by-case basis
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN THE REGULAR AND THE FOUNDATION REGISTRY CLASSIFICATION?
The Regular Registry is for a first-generation Appaloosa. The Foundation
Registry (the "F" numbers) is to identify those ICAA Appaloosas that
have multiple generations of Appaloosa-Appaloosa breeding behind them.
ICAA follows the
generally accepted genealogy method for generation identification. The horse
itself is not counted as a generation. The horse's parents are the first
generation, the grandparents are the second generation, the great-grandparents
are the third generation, etc.
For additional information on how ICAA
figures pedigree rank, see "How
To Read A Pedigree".
WHAT ABOUT SOLID
HORSES THAT HAVE APPALOOSA PARENTS?
Solid-colored, non-characteristic unspayed MARES and FILLIES may be registered
with ICAA in the Breeding Stock ("B" number) classification as long as
the sire and dam are both registered Appaloosas. A stallion who is solid may be
registered within the Breeding Stock classification only if he meets the
pedigree criteria for the F-4 level of the Foundation Registry. (That is, his
parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents must ALL
be registered Appaloosas.) Horses
with Breeding Stock classification are not eligible for showing in
ICAA-sponsored/approved shows, nor may they participate in the ICAA Open Show
Point Program.
Solid-colored,
non-characteristic stallions without an F-4 or better pedigree, solid-colored
geldings and solid-colored spayed mares are not eligible for registry with the
ICAA.
OTHER THAN PEDIGREE,
WHAT ARE THE APPALOOSA CHARACTERISTICS REQUIRED FOR ICAA REGISTRATION?
- Readily identifiable Appaloosa coat color and
pattern. (Can the horse be recognized as an Appaloosa from 15 feet or more?)
- White sclera
encircling the eye.
- Striped hooves.
(Ermine spots producing stripes in the hooves are not Appaloosa stripes.)
- Mottling around the
eyes, muzzle, anus, and/or udder/sheath.
- No "paint"
or "pinto" type markings, such as high-white stockings above the
knees or hocks, specific large patches of white or color typical in
paint/pinto coloring, or obviously paint/pinto-type bald face markings.
WHAT IS THE APPENDIX
("A") HORSE DESIGNATION, AND CAN I STILL REGISTER UNDER THIS PROGRAM?
The Appendix, or "A"
number classification, was closed in its entirety as of January 1, 1996.
Until its closure, the Appendix classification accepted obviously
Appaloosa-colored horses of Appaloosa/Quarter Horse, Appaloosa/Thoroughbred,
Appaloosa/Arabian crossings. Appendix horses that were registered with ICAA
before January 1, 1996 are still registered with ICAA and are considered ICAA
Appaloosas. On ICAA pedigrees, their registry number is preceded by an
"A".
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WHAT
IS THE "AMNESTY" HORSE? |
| Back
at the start of ICAA, it was recognized that there existed a number of
Appaloosas who were not registered or who, for whatever reason, no
longer had registry papers. ("Sold without papers," "Lost
papers," etc.) In some cases the pedigrees of these horses were
unknown and untraceable. For a period of time, with inspection, these
horses were accepted in the ICAA as a bona fide Appaloosa. When used as
breeding stock, these mares and stallions could "move up" to
the regular registry upon proof of production. Shown to the right is
"Shenna", A-1116, one of ICAA's 1999 Production Achievement Award
mares...an Amnesty program mare. As is readily apparent here, Shenna is
an Appaloosa, and she produces ICAA-registered foals. |
 |
| (The
1995 filly at Shenna's side is Dance Chyann, #1383.
Sheena is "Boss Mare" at S&R Appaloosas, Millersburg,
Indiana.) |
Since
ICAA accepts only Appaloosa-Appaloosa bred horses, couldn't that just keep the
ICAA Appaloosa at the 50%-other-breed level, based on ApHC accepting a
coat-patterned cross-bred as an "Appaloosa"?
If one considers only mathematics, this is a possibility. Simply stated, if an
Appaloosa/TB cross is considered to be "50% Appaloosa," and it is bred
to another Appaloosa/TB cross, mathematically the resulting coat-patterned foal
is still only "50% Appaloosa" (two Appaloosas and two Thoroughbreds as
grands). Because this "50% Appaloosa" foal has a sire and a dam that
are both registered with ApHC, it is eligible for ICAA Regular (#) registry.
Then if this ICAA "#" horse is bred to another ICAA "#"
horse that comes from a similar heritage, the resulting foal of that pairing
is--mathematically--still "50% Appaloosa" although it is an ICAA F-2.
However, another factor that has a tremendous influence on
breeding is the dominant Appaloosa genetics. When breeding "like to
like" (that is, coat-pattern and characteristics, not simply percentages),
dominant genes become more concentrated with each generation, and the recessive
genes tend to be diluted.
Additionally, since a sire and dam contribute half of a
foal's genetic make-up, at the F-2 level, a grand sire or granddam has
contributed only 1/8th of the foal's genetic make-up. At the F-3 level, it is
1/16th. By the time it reaches the F-8 level, the contribution of any grandsire
or granddam is 1/1024th.
It is these particular aspects--rather than the oft-times
misleading percentages--that is used to breed in or breed away from specific
traits and characteristics.
Why
doesn't ICAA consider the ApHC "F" horses as 100% Appaloosa?
Because they aren't 100% Appaloosa. The ApHC "F" horses, while
foundations of the Appaloosa industry, were simply the horses that were there
when records began being kept on breedings and resulting offspring. The ApHC
"F" horse's ability to pass on dominant Appaloosa genetics was proven
through production. Many of the ApHC "F" horses come from an unknown
sire and dam. A horse with no known pedigree cannot realistically be called
"100% purebred." Some horses--Mansfield Comanche F-3096, for
example--have a known sire and dam. His sire was Dr. Howard, a Thoroughbred, and
his dam was Juanita. Mansfield Comanche was at least half-Thoroughbred, so he's
certainly not "100% Appaloosa." Then there's a nice ApHC "F"
Appaloosa named Peavy Bimbo (F-4557). His sire was Little Joe, AQHA 430, and his
dam was Chipeta, AQHA 1250. Again, a little weak on the argument for being
considered "100% Appaloosa." When the ApHC "F" horses are
used in figuring pedigree percentages at "100%", the results are
skewed. It is for this specific reason that ICAA chose to use the
full-generation concept--coupled with the animal husbandry standard of
"eight generations with no out-crossing equals a purebred"--for the
documented heritage for the development of the blood-breed Appaloosa.
Since
ICAA is such a stickler about pedigrees, why was there an amnesty period when
ICAA accepted horses with no known or a cross-bred heritage?
In the early 90's there were few old-line Appaloosa horses known, although as
ICAA became better known we found there were more breeders concentrating on the
old lines than we had suspected. As a fledgling registry--and as all fledgling
registries must do, as even ApHC did--we had to start somewhere. It is difficult
at best to develop a breed of anything, be it horses, goldfish, or beans. It is
impossible when there's few breeding stock to start with. Since the concept of
ICAA was to breed UP to a higher standard, we accepted into the registry for a
set amount of time those horses that met ICAA minimum standards, either through
pedigree or type. When we had a base of breeding stock from which to build, we
closed the books.
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