Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Venting Where it Belongs - The AQHA

I've now had my third call to them in the last three years. I've lost the patience to be kind about it, or just disappointed. It's bull, and I'm calling them on it.

Me: Hi, this is Jennifer __, I'm calling about a horse I bought in 2006. Registration # ____, Name ___ ___ Romeo.

AQHA: Is this Tyler ___?

Me: No, I said my name is Jennifer. I purchased Romeo from ___ when Tyler left Romeo at his house. He walked away from the horse, and his uncle sold Romeo to me.

AQHA: Tyler never signed the transfer papers transferring the horse from the breeder, or to transfer the horse to you. We need him to sign.

Me: I can't get him to sign, he bailed out on the horse. I will get DNA, I will get a hair sample, I will pay whatever fees are required, so you get your money, and I prove I have the horse in my yard.

AQHA: We can't do anything without his signature.

Me: That's unfortunate for you, because I'd like to show him in AQHA competitions. Given what I hear on the current state of the economy, I'd like to believe you would appreciate another competitor that pays, and another paying member on the roll.

AQHA: There's nothing we can do without his signature.


I give up. The kid leaves Romeo in College Station (where some of his care was questionable.. Okay, sucked). Romeo cribbed, and rather than buy a collar, they shot him with a BB gun when they caught him cribbing. (Lady of the house says, "He knows what a shot gun sounds like." I said, "Why?" She said, "I shot at him with a BB gun when he was chewing on my kid's playhouse.") I have put over a month's training on him, taught him things he never knew before, put a great deal of healthy weight on him, muscled him up, loved him to pieces, and rescued him from a family that "had no use for him" (their words, not mine).

I've called the AQHA three times. First call, they told me to get him registered, I had to send letters to the breeder and Tyler, get them to sign, agree to pay all fees, and it'd be done. Breeder responded, said he'd do whatever he had to. Tyler never responds. I called a second time, and they said "That was never yours to do. We'll take care of it, and call you back." They never called.

Third time, I get a "genius" on the phone that refuses to play nice. Fine! I'm calling it out. THAT SUCKS! There's no reason why they can't compromise on the situation. Even the Jockey Club has more reasonable practices when it comes to lost records or mishandled paperwork. There's no excuse for their level of disagreement on the issue.

If anyone has any tips on what else I can do, Please Please let me know... Otherwise, looks like my show future with him will be limited to Opens and Working Cow Horse functions.. Because I won't waste my cash at "Open AQHA-sponsored" events. No reason to - apparently they don't think Romeo's worth it.

1 comment:

SunnySD said...

That really sucks. Maybe quoting the following section from the AQHA manual at them would help?

220. DUPLICATE CERTIFICATE. A duplicate certificate is a new registration certificate issued when the original has been lost or
destroyed. It is issued when sufficient proof of loss and proper identification of the horse has been submitted to AQHA.
(a) In regard to involuntary transfers, including, but not limited to, court judgments and stableman’s lien or security interest foreclosure, when it is proven to AQHA’s satisfaction that a previous owner is unavailable to verify via the affidavit the whereabouts of the original certificate or refuses to implement the court’s judgment by
delivering the original certificate for transfer, at AQHA’s discretion, and in the interest of equity, requirement of affidavit of the record owner may be waived and the current owner deemed eligible for a duplicate certificate.

It's located in their registration rules here.

Good luck!