What does registering do?

What does registering your horse do for your horse and yourself?

For one thing, if you ever have to sell it makes your horse more desirable.

By registering a horse you are able to see it's lineage and track previous owners and sometimes even pull points (if it is shown in breed shows). Alot of breeds have their own show circuits as well, where they are judged against only that breed...

Registration papers are important if you want to breed or show in breed specific shows. If you are just looking for a fun horse that is healthy and can do trail and open shows then it's not a HUGE deal....

Good information, thank you Another question here, so say you register your horse. You get registration papers of course, but what comes with that? Just the papers or do you get access to resources?

Usually just the papers. In the case of APHA (Paint Horse Assoc.) or AQHA (Quarter Horses) you also become a "member" of the association (membership may be optional, I am not sure). The membership can have some advantages.

My AQHA got me a discount on two Ford vehicles I purchased this year. $500 on each, which more than covered what I paid to register one horse. They have other discounts as well.

Some organizations may also have "family tree" info and online forums available to members.

What kind of resources did you have in mind?

Pretty much what you mentioned, just resources that if you have questions or issues that you could contact someone that can help you. Also maybe referral resources for barns and stables and trainers, just things like that. Something like this forum

That discount system sounds really nice Do you get discounts on tack as well?

Many breed associations offer incentive programs also. This allows you, the horses breeder, and the owner of the sire to earn moneny and incentives when your horse does well in approved venues of competiton. The American Paint Horse Association offers the Breeder's Trust Program and Geldings Plus and the American Quarter Horse Association offers the Incentive Fund. I do believe that Arabians also have a program similar to these.