The Foundation Appaloosa Horse Registry was established in April 1998 by a group of dedicated Foundation Appaloosa breeders. The founder, Tom Taylor, directed the collection of these breeders for the purpose of breed restoration. At this first meeting, the group agreed that their goal was to protect, preserve, maintain and promote the bloodlines of the real Appaloosa horse, the breed traditionally recognized as Appaloosa.

In 1994 a leading authority in the Appaloosa industry wrote in an article that according to the latest statistics of the time, no Appaloosas have been found in the world whose first six generations (counting the individual horse as the first generation) were all Appaloosa. Does that mean their origins were 100% original. It was also found that only 39 Appaloosas could be found in the world that had only Appaloosa blood for the first five generations. According to industry standards, an animal must have at least 7/8 blood of still parentage to be representative of that particular genetic breed.

With this in mind, the FAHR Association has decided to set up its own register. Appaloosas with at least 75% appaloosa blood are registered.

All Appaloosas registered in the ApHC before the number 70,000, which corresponds to the first 8 stud books, are rated with 100%, even if, from a purely genetic point of view, they have fewer.

In my opinion, this is an acceptable compromise, especially since the foreign blood is thinned out more and more over time.

From time to time, a dosed blood refreshment may be necessary to maintain or improve performance.