The rules listed on this page may not necessarily reflect current changes or issues yet to be addressed by the HH council. Please feel free to contact us if you have questions.

Topic Quick Links

Applications & Forms

Registration Designations and Divisions

Books for Horses of Friesian heritage

Optional HH Advanced Registration Designations

Naming Rules

DNA Parent Verification Requirements

HYPP Testing Requirements & Genetic Defects

Transfer of Ownership

Duplicate Certificates

Certificate Corrections

Liability

Titles and Standings for all horses

Membership:  Currently, there is no fee for membership. Upon complete payment of all fees due for registration, HH will assign each owner and/or breeder a permanent identification number.

Horse Registration Eligibility:  HH allows all horses that are of 25% to 100% documented Friesian heritage, in their respective books and divisions, as listed below.

Registration/Recording Fee: $40 per horse, regardless of book, division or age.

Transfer of Ownership or Change of Certificate Fee:  $20 per certificate.

Applications & Forms

Applications & forms can be found in printable, PDF format on the HH website, under the forms link, or by contacting HH and requesting that one be sent by mail. 

All applications for registration must be fully completed, correctly and legibly and must be submitted with payment in full and all of the proper supporting documents and signatures, as instructed on the registration application. 

If one or more signatures is not available, or required information is missing, you may contact the HH for a case review of your particular situation.

For all horses being registered or recorded, the amount of Friesian blood must be documented and verified by attesting signatures and by parent DNA testing, in order to be documented on the registration certificate.  Or, in the case of purebred Friesians, a copy of the horse’s FPS, FHANA or FPZV papers may be submitted.

Proof of pedigree is not required for a non-Friesian parent.  If a pedigree is undocumented, the registration certificate will reflect that by listing that bloodline as unknown or unregistered.

HH Registration Designations and Divisions

HH offers different books and different types of registration certificates, as well as a recorded certificate for horses who are not allowed to double register, such as FPZV (German) registered purebreds and EAFS Arabo Friesians (Belgium).

Horses may hold only one type of HH certificate at a time.  Future upgrades of HH certificates are optional and require a “Change of Certificate” form & fee, which can be found on the HH website, under the forms link. The original certificate issued must be returned to HH, via certified mail, before HH will grant the upgraded certificate.  Please note that registration options and requirements may be changed, added or eliminated, upon review, as deemed necessary by the Council Members of the HH.

Books for Horses of Friesian Heritage:

HH maintains five separate books for horses of Friesian heritage:

1. Partbred Friesian Book (25% to 75% Friesian heritage)

2. Partbred Friesian Pony Book (25% to 75% Friesian heritage with a mature height under 15 hands)

3. Faux Friesian Book (75.1% to 99.9% Friesian)

4. Purebred Friesian Book (100% Friesian heritage)

5. Heritage Warmblood Book (25% to 75% Friesian) This classification of registration is for horses who are NOT sired by a purebred Friesian parent.  To qualify for Heritage Warmblood Registration, the horse must meet with strict inspection criteria, must be a minimum of 15 hands and must be DNA tested.  The Heritage Warmblood Book is currently still under development and more details will be posted soon.

Basic registration (red border certificate) for the Partbred Friesian Book, the Partbred Friesian Pony Book, the Faux Friesian Book, and the Purebred Friesian Book is based strictly on blood requirements.  Horses of documented, purebred Friesian heritage will be registered as “Friesian”.  Horses of documented, high percentage Friesian heritage will be registered as “Faux Friesian”. Horses and ponies documented to be be 25% to 75% Friesian Heritage will be registered as a “Heritage Horse” or “Heritage Pony”, accordingly.

Basic Registration & Certificate of Record

Crossbred Friesian Certificates

Purebred Friesian Certificates

Heritage Horse Registration  (25% to 75% Friesian ancestry)

Purebred Friesian Registration

Heritage Pony Registration  (25% to 75% Friesian ancestry)

Faux Friesian (75.1% to 99.9% Friesian ancestry)

Recorded Certificate - This certificate is for horses of 25% to 100% Friesian ancestry who are already registered elsewhere and not allowed to double register.

Optional HH Advanced Registration Designations

All horses, who qualify for basic registration (red border certificate), may choose to take advantage of the advanced registration options offered by HH.  These optional designations are designed to distinguish type and suitability and give credit to horses who have been inspected with a qualifying score.

**Sport Horse Designated” Certificate** (gold border certificate): 

Any horse or pony, in any of the five HH books, may qualify for Sport Horse Designation.  In order to qualify for a “Sport Horse Designated” certificate, the registering horse must score a 6.8, or higher, with no score of the inspection lower than 6.5, on the sport horse standard, at a recognized FEIT inspection or an equivalent inspection, as so deemed by the council of HH, that judges the walk, trot, canter and conformation of the horse on a sport horse standard.

**Park Performance Designated” Certificate** (silver border certificate): 

 Any horse or pony, in any of the five HH books, may qualify for Park Performance Designation.  In order to qualify for a “Park Performance Designated” certificate, the registering horse must score a 6.8, or higher, with no score of the inspection lower than 6.5, on the Purebred Friesian standard or on a standard that judges suitability for park/carriage/saddleseat, at a recognized FEIT inspection or an equivalent inspection, as so deemed by the council of HH, that judges the walk, trot, canter and conformation of the horse on a park/carriage/saddleseat type standard. 

Advanced Registration Options

*The options listed below are available to horses who have completed a HH recognized inspection with a qualifying score and/or have achieved specific requirements in open competition.

Crossbred Friesian Certificates

Purebred Friesian Certificates

Heritage Horse – Sporthorse Designated

Purebred Friesian - Sporthorse Designated

Heritage Horse – Park Performance Designated

Purebred Friesian - Park Performance Designated

Heritage Pony – Sportpony Designated

Heritage Pony – Park Performance Designated

Faux Friesian – Sporthorse Designated

Faux Friesian – Park Performance Designated

Heritage Warmblood Registration–This classification of registration is for horses who are NOT sired by a purebred Friesian parent.  To qualify for Heritage Warmblood Registration, the horse must meet with strict inspection criteria, must be a 25% and a maximum 75%Friesian blood and must be DNA tested.

**Elite Status** (blue border certificate): 

 In order to qualify for “Elite” status, a horse must prove itself through inspection scores and/or Open show scores and/or the quality of his or her offspring.  When awarding Elite status to a mare or stallion, inspection scores and/or the inspection scores of his or her offspring, Open compitition scores and/or the Open compitition scores of his or her offspring will all be taken into account and balanced and graded with an A, B or C designation.  Stallions and mares without a show record may still earn Elite status with extensive proof of their offspring’s quality and ability.  Geldings and mares may earn, without meeting the offspring requirments, Elite status through their inspection scores and extensive Open show record at a medimum-high to high level.  For mares and stallions, a posthumous award of the Elite designation is possible, if the offspring’s achievements are earned after the sire or dam’s death. The designation of Elite will be added to whatever designation a horse has or has not already earned, for example, a horse may be “Elite Heritage Horse” under basic registration without any further designation or “Elite Sporthorse Designated” or “Elite Park Performance Designated”.

The Elite status program is currently under development and more details will be posted here soon.  This program will place heavy emphasis on “quality of offspring” and will award horses who can produce high quality offspring time and time again.

Naming Rules

One-word names are typically not allowed.  You may use a farm name like Peter Pan of Neverland Ranch or Peter P or Peter NLR.  Please provide at least three name options. Do not use punctuation marks or numbers in the name choices. Names may not exceed 30 characters (spaces included). This rule does not apply to purebred Friesian who have FPS or FPZV papers.

The HH reserves the right to disallow the use of names already commonly established by another farm as their “trade-name”(s). Well-known sire names may not be used in the name, unless the horse is directly related to the sire and/or written permission is given by sire owner. Sire names may not be used at the beginning of a name, unless the horse is a direct son or daughter of that sire, or written permission is given by sire owner.

DNA Parent Verification Requirements

Heritage Horse International requires every horse,  at the time of application, to submit a hair sample in a plain white envelope with the horse's name marked on the outside. Click here for instructions on pulling a hair sample.

There is NO FEE for this required sample, as it will simply be placed in your horses file. This sample then becomes the property of HH. Submitting this sample, DOES NOT  mean your horse is DNA tested.

If your horse is already DNA tested through UC Davis, either individually or with another registry, and you have access to the UC Davis case number for your horse, then there is no need to re-DNA test.  You may submit the UC Davis case number and a copy of the DNA report, from your horse’s previous test.

DNA testing is required for all horses applying for Heritage Warmblood registration and Elite status..

******* Special DNA Circumstance *******

In the case of DNA that is not available, due to death of the parent(s) horse, or due to the owner of a parent horse not being willing or able to release a DNA sample, or in the case of a parent horse who is not registered with HH, then the owner, of the offspring being registered, is strongly encouraged to DNA test the offspring of the non-DNA tested parent(s) by the age of 3 years.  Please be aware, if a DNA sample is not submitted, then the un-tested horse creates a "broken link" in the DNA verified lineage, of their Friesian heritage.  Subsequent offspring from these non-DNA-tested horses will not be able to document their percentage of Friesian heritage, which may endanger the ability of their offspring to qualify for HH registration. 

HYPP Testing Requirements & Other Genetic Defects

All owners are strongly encouraged to HYPP test horses who have unknown lineage in their background or horses that are linked by pedigree to the American Quarter Horse, Impressive. When a horse related to Impressive, or a horse of unknowen lineage, is not tested for HYPP, it will state on the horse’s papers “this horse has not been HYPP tested”.  Foals from non-tested parents will NOT be registered until they are HYPP tested. These horses must be double negative (HYPP n/n), or have proof of a negative horse in the pedigree following Impressive, in order to be registered. Please supply HH with a copy of the HYPP test results showing HYPP n/n status. It is the goal of the HH to eliminate genetic defects, whenever possible.  Other genetic defect declarations may be required, if they are suspected.

Transfer of Ownership

 An HH transfer form must be fully completed, correctly and legibly and must be submitted with payment in full and all of the proper supporting documents and signatures, as instructed on the transfer of ownership form. 

The original Certificate of Registration for the horse being transferred must be returned to HH with the transfer of Ownership form.

Any person applying for transfer of a horse may be required to furnish (at the applicant’s expense) a DNA Report, and/or any other documents or evidence that HH may deem necessary.

Whenever legal title of a registered horse passes to another person by reason of death of the recorded owner, foreclosure of any lien, by any order or decree of court, or otherwise by operation of law, the Registry may transfer the registration of the subject horse to the new owner:

• Upon court order of competent jurisdiction or other satisfactory proof of authority for the transfer.
• Upon payment of the transfer fee.
• Upon satisfaction of such other requirements as may be required by HH

Duplicate Certificates

A Duplicate Certificate of Registration will be issued providing:

• Satisfactory proof of loss, destruction or other reason for the unavailability of original certificate is provided.
• An application for a duplicate Certificate of Registration has been correctly completed and submitted to HH with a notarized statement describing the loss, destruction, or other reason for the unavailability of the original certificate, and the appropriate fee.

By the issuance of a duplicate registration certificate all prior certificates of the horse are declared null and void. If the original certificate is found it must be returned to HH.

Certificate Changes & Corrections

The recorded owner may request a change, to any part of the issued Certificate.  The original Certificate of Registration must be returned to HH with a completed Change of Certificate Form.  Upon approval of the HH, an amended Certificate of Registration will be issued to the recorded owner. Any clerical errors made by HH will be made free of charge for 60 days after the permanent registration date posted on the certificate.

Liability

The burden of proof for the registration or transfer of a horse is the responsibility of the applicant. Neither the  HH or any of its Directors, employees or members of its committees shall be liable in any event for any action or failure to act in connection with the operation of the HH. Any registry record found to be inaccurate will be expunged or altered and reissued as deemed appropriate by HH.

Titles and Standings for all horses

Horses being registered with HH, who may have already received titles and standing in another registry, may not automatically transfer to HH books or designations. Please contact the HH directly for title and standings that are recognized by HH.

However, all Purebred Friesians registered with FPS or FPZV shall retain the titles as they currently stand with that registry.  Titles and standings from registries other than FPS or FPZV may or may not apply.

A stallion or mare that is known to be passing on a confirmed congenital defect may have its title and standings removed or changed at the discretion of the HH.