To Test or Not To Test

It is pretty obvious that Stinker is a Saddlebred (especially when he has a temper tantrum and starts tossing his front legs).  I do not have papers on him nor do I know if he was registered as a baby.  Hence my dilemma.  There are multiple reasons I am interested in going through the process.  One, I am curious. The lady I got him from had limited history on him and I would love to know more.  Two, there are breed awards at the local dressage show and as far as I know I am the only one in the area with a Saddlebred.  If we can get a score it would mean a HUGE neck ribbon.  I know it is silly but I would love to have an ASB neck ribbon.

The American Saddlebred Association will send you a DNA kit for $50.  Sweet, I will get him DNA tested and then I will know.  Then I discovered that it isn't quite that easy.  They will send you a kit for $50, but if you want them to look and see if any horses match the results it is additional $100.  If there is not an exact match you are out of luck.  No checking for parental matches or anything like that.  If there is a match it brings up a whole new set of issues.  I would need to contact the current registered owner and ask them to sign a transfer of ownership.  If they refuse or you can't contact them, it is necessary to get a court order indicating that ownership has legally passed to you.  Once that is done if the papers were not passed to you, you need to get a notarized affidavit for lost papers.

While everything might go smoothly, I am a suspicious person by nature and it seems like I could inadvertently open up a can of worms.  It seems silly when I am just curious and want a pretty ribbon.  So I am stuck with the dilemma of to test or not to test.  I am leaning towards just doing it and then not worrying about trying to get the papers.  I *think* I can just add the number to his USEF stuff and not worry about getting the actual papers.  That is assuming he is actually registered.  Decisions Decisions Decisions...

Excuse the fact that this is super blurry and we are super tense.

I just like that he is so uphill.  I am imagining what he will look like

once I get him working correctly.