The way of a horse's going is the truth of him.

World Arabian Horse Organization

Definition of a purebred Arabian:

"A pure-bred Arabian horse is one which appears in any pure-bred Arabian Stud Book or Register listed by WAHO as acceptable."

A word about WAHO:
"From the inception of WAHO it was apparent that one of the most important and needed objects as stated in the WAHO Constitution was to "maintain throughout the world the purity of the blood of the horses of the Arabian breed."    WAHO is important to breeders for two reasons:

1. It's members can accept and register any Arabian horse from any WAHO-approved country and,

2. Because the U.S. would not accept horses of known impure blood but that were already registered in a WAHO-accepted registry, the Arabian Horse Registry of America lost its membership in WAHO.

The impact of the second is clear and presents a dilemma for U.S. owners. Without registration in a WAHO-approved stud book, a horse cannot be registered in another member country according to the rules and definitions of WAHO.  Most horses exported from the U.S. are done so for breeding stock so of course, registration in the new country is essential for both buyer and seller. In order to facilitate the sale and exportation of U.S.-bred Arabian horses, the Purebred Arabian Horse Registry (PAHR) was formed. Now U.S. breeders can double-register their horses (register in both AHA and PAHR) if they are planning to export them. Of course the stallion and dam must also be PAHR registered, so that means six registration fees for every exported horse. Whew!

To learn more about WAHO, visit their site at www.waho.org.