The Search for Sydney's Identity Begins

Purebred Arabian Brand (no longer used)

Having only had registered Arabian horses (since I grew up and left home), I am only familiar with how the Arabian Horse Association tracks horses. Essentially, if a sire and dam are registered purebreds, the foal is also eligible for registration. Over the years the process has changed somewhat, but essentially, the owner submits the foal's DNA sample, includes the sire and dam information, pays the appropriate fees, and the foal is now a registered Arabian.  Now that Arabians are no longer branded, tracking the registered name and parentage of an Arabian requires DNA testing. It's much easier to do if registration papers have not been lost.

The brand pictured is from my purebred Arabian mare (deceased), Montoya DSA.  The first symbol indicates that she was purebred.  There is a similar symbol for half-Arabians.   If you draw a clock face and then draw a small arrow pointing to each number, you'd have the code that the AHA used for branding.  The two stacked symbols to the right of the purebred mark indicate her birth year.   The top "arrow" is an 8, and the bottom one is a 9 - 1989.  The symbols that are underlined are her actual registration number with the Arabian Horse Association.

Speedy G, registered name G Ima Starr FA, isn't branded.  His DNA was sent to AHA for recording.  If he's ever lost or sold without his registration papers, his new owner would have to submit a DNA sample to have him identified.  I am sure this is a somewhat costly procedure.

When I bought Sydney, his United States Hunter Jumper Association card came with him.  It listed a birthdate and his name, but nothing else to help identify his origins.  A quick search of the NZ Racing's website revealed at least one error on the card which led me to believe there might be others.  On his USHJA card Sydney's name reads, SYDNEY N2.  Hmmm ...  I entered that name in the data base of the NZ Racing search engine and saw lots of Sydney-type names with NZ beside them.  I quickly realized the N2 was an error and actually stood for New Zealand, NZ.

There were many horses listed that had Sydney as part of their name, but none matched my Sydney's birthdate which was 2002. His right shoulder brand is a 4 over a 2 which means that he was the fourth horse registered by the breeder in the year 2002.  I suspected his sire was Magic of Sydney, but I wasn't sure.  I also discovered that he was bred by Grand Vue Lodge Syndicate based on the Gv on his left shoulder.  More than 16 horses were sired by Magic of Sydney in 2002, half of which were colts.  I just couldn't figure out which one he was! (click photos for larger view)

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I downloaded the Request for Identification of a Thoroughbred Information form from NZ Racing's website, filled it out, scanned it, and emailed it with a credit card payment.  I then held my breath.

To be Continued ...
Part 2