Report a live foal, out of a mare you own, by selecting Broodmare Activity in the "My Horses" section of your USTA MyAccount and supplying the foaling date, color, gender and foaling place. You can then also choose to speed through the registration process without having to worry about markings. 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.
If your mare was pronounced not in foal (barren) or otherwise will not have a foal registered, you can submit the No Foal information through your USTA MyAccount in the same way you reported your live foal/registered a foal. You can also submit a Live Foal/No Foal Report by mail, fax or email to the USTA office.
In conjunction with the University of California Davis (UC Davis), the USTA is asking breeders and owners to report any genetic abnormalities for still born foals or those with apparent abnormalities. Please send the filled out forms to the USTA. A blood sample (preferred) or hair sample for DNA testing (along with the Horse Information form) should be sent directly to UC Davis to preserve the integrity of the sample.
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 your USTA MyAccount (for mares you own/lease) or Online Services (for mares you do not own). 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 paperwork and fees are received at the USTA:
| Registration fee | |
| 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 will result in the next higher registration fee being assessed. You can check the status of your mare's mating certificate 24/7 on your 'Broodmare Activity' page in MyAccount.
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. The fee is $75 per horse and can be paid to the USTA ID Technician by credit card when they come to your farm. This is in addition to the normal registration fee and covers the cost of microchipping later to the new owner. If you select to have your horse freeze branded AND microchipped at the same time, a fee of $40 per horse instead of the previously stated $75 per horse will be required, due to a savings in future travel expenses. It is important to mention that before the horse races in 2022 and beyond, the horse will need to be microchipped.
Microchipping (or freeze branding) and DNA typing are completed at the same time and can be done as early as 10 days old. 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.
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 the $35.00 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 that the name is not an exact or phonetic match for a horse that:
Some other name checks that are done at the USTA office include:
Additional rules are outlined in Rule 26, Section 7 of the USTA Rule Book.
The breeder of a foal is determined by who is the registered owner or lessee of the mare 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.
Upon registration, all Registration Certificates are held electronically at the USTA unless otherwise requested. 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).