The AHS strives to ensure that Transfers of Ownership are accurate and timely. Our rules mandate that every step in the ownership chain be documented back to the original owner. Buying a horse is similar to buying a car or a house. You are paying a lot of money and want a "clear title".
Sellers
What are the downsides to not having a horse you sell transferred out of your ownership? Depending on what state you live in, you might find yourself legally responsible if the horse were to hurt someone. The court would see that you are the current owner of record, not the person in actual possession of the horse.
Buyers
Why make sure the horse you buy gets transferred into your name? For one thing, unless you are the current owner of record of a mare entered into our studbook, we cannot register the foal in your name. Also, you cannot compete for AHS Awards if the horse is not in your name.
Generally transfers go very smoothly, however, there are a few areas that can be troublesome:
Auction Horses – In the case of auctions, we recommend that if you are consigning a horse to an auction, that you as owner, submit a signed Transfer of Ownership Form along with the horse's original registration papers. Then, when the horse is sold, the new owner can sign and submit a signed Transfer of Ownership and the registration papers to the AHS for amending.
Agent Sales – Often we will receive a Transfer of Ownership Form signed by an Agent. Unless we have a signed Agent's agreement on file that authorizes that Agent to sell a horse on behalf of the current owner of record, then a transfer of ownership cannot be affected. The onus goes back to the person trying to transfer the ownership... they have to track down the owner of record and either obtain a Transfer of Ownership or Agent's Agreement from them which would enable the AHS to use the transfer form signed by the Agent.
One or More Owners – If papers have been issued to John and Mary Doe, then both John and Mary have to sign the Transfer of Ownership Form. If papers were issued as John and/or Mary, we would then accept either (or both) signatures.
Our current Transfer of Ownership Form requires the signature of both the seller(s) and the new owner. As safeguards, when a transfer takes place, if possible, signatures are compared (we have discovered some forgeries!).
We recommend that when selling a horse, you have the buyer sign the Transfer of Ownership Form at the same time they sign the Bill of Sale. If you want to make sure the horse is transferred, you could include the price of the transfer in your sale price, and when the check has cleared, send the registration papers, the signed Transfer of Ownership Form and the fee to the AHS Central Office. We would complete the transfer and forward the papers to the new owner with a blank Transfer of Ownership form for future use. We also accept Bills of Sale in lieu of a Transfer of Ownership as long as both the horse and parties are identified and both the seller and buyer have signed it.
*Available in (PDF) format only. Files marked (PDF) require a recent version of Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to view and print these items online. Acrobat Reader is a free software package produced by Adobe Systems, Inc. It lets you view, download, and print many publications in Portable Document Format (PDF). It also lets you print and send forms you completed online in Forms Document Format (FDF), which will be available for many AHS documents at a later date. You must have a recent version of Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to take advantage of these features.
Stay informed! Join the AHS e-mail list!
