The North American Studbook (NAS), now a full member of the World Breeding Federation of Sport Horses (WBFSH), was established in 2009 to support North American sport horse breeders in the domestic and international marketplace. We invite breeders of all sizes, experience levels and disciplines to be a part of our quest to become one of the elite sport horse registries, while remaining breeder-friendly and cost effective.
Our Goals – High Quality; Affordability; and an Inclusive, Collaborative Community
“We’ve been using NAS for the last 5 or so years to register all of our foals. It’s great to have an established US based registry to get passports & papers for our American bred horses—it just makes sense! All of our young stock is registered in a timely manner, DNA verified, and we’re able to capitalize on the early registration discount with the USEF by having paperwork processed for all of our yearlings prior to the end of the calendar year.” – Maggie Jayne, Our Day Farm
We carefully consider the unique advantages and challenges the North American breeder faces. We know that American breeders are breeding world-class horses and we want to help breeders reach their goals. We believe that the problem for American breeders is not a difficulty in breeding good horses, but in finding the right clients for their horses and dealing with the paperwork, costs of registration and promotion. We use a single payment fee structure that understands the average North American breeder’s budget and there are no yearly activation fees for mare and stallion owners.
Breeding Direction – Three Books
The NAS focuses on all disciplines and it has been developed to be a modern studbook that reflects modern sport with a focus on quality stallions, quality mare lines, and quality jumpers. The rules are simple, and the studbook tries to only impose regulations that make sense for the breeding direction and serve a purpose. Unlike some studbooks that restrict bloodlines, the NAS is open to bloodlines across the WBFSH studbooks with an emphasis on performance.
The Main Book reflects European breeding standards and requires a certified 4-generation pedigree, the absence of non-recognized breeds from the pedigree, DNA-verifiable parentage, an NAS-licensed or NAS recognized sire and a dam who is in the NAS or WBFSH mare books. The use of EU-based stallions via frozen semen is a simple process of approval with the NAS office.
The Auxiliary Registration Book is for horses who may not meet all of the requirements for the Main Book, but with simple issues such as DNA-verifiable parentage issues, the sire not being an NAS-licensed or NAS-recognized stallion, or the dam being in the NAS Auxiliary or Certificate of Pedigree Book herself.
The Certificate of Pedigree Book provides a pathway for horses that do not necessarily meet the requirements for the Main Book or the Auxiliary Book to be registered. The NAS does not recommend using CP Book horses for breeding before consulting with the office. As long as age can be verified, the NAS will be able to assist you with the registration of your horse.
The Process
Foals
We strive to make the process as simple and cost effective as possible. We understand that there are occasions where it can be difficult or even impossible to bring a foal to an inspection site, therefore, we allow foals to be registered without attending an inspection. Simply contact the office and we would be happy to assist you with the registration process.
Inspection dates are set based on what makes sense given the local breeding and show seasons, but we are also flexible. We recognize that many breeders have busy competition and breeding schedules, so while we are happy to plan an inspection with you, we also welcome you to register your foals without one. We want to work with you, so if you reach out to us and explain your situation, we’ll do our best to accommodate you!
Mare Approval
Our mare approval process recognizes the value of the mare in the breeding equation. If your mare that has already been approved by another WBFSH registry and has achieved sufficient scores, she can be easily integrated into the NAS mare book.
Adult Horse Registration
We also welcome all horses of all ages for registration. Contact us for further eligibility details.
Stallion Licensing
Our stallion inspection and lifetime licensing process recognizes the need for stallions based in North America to perform at the upper levels of sport in order to remain competitive with the influx of European stallions available with frozen semen. Our process allows stallions to be developed based on individual physical and mental development rather than an artificially set timeline that may result in quality stallions being overlooked due to their relative immaturity at three and four years old.
The NAS brand is now becoming synonymous with quality and performance with both breeders and competitors, while still providing a user-friendly, client centric focus.
For more details on the requirements for the different books, the registration process, or any other questions, please visit our website at www.northamericanstudbook.com or feel free to reach out to the office with any questions. We would be happy to guide you through the process.