[Cagey]

Aren't horses, especially horses this valuable, sold with some type of registration papers?

[HairOfTheDog]

Sometimes, and sometimes not. The horses were described as "Swedish Warmblood" and "Dutch Warmblood" which is more of a 'type' than a 'breed'. Simply defined, a Warmblood is a cross between a "hot blood" (thoroughbred or Arabian) and some other breed, often of the large performance horse types used in jumping and dressage. They are not 'purebreds' with 'papers' so much as they are 'types', sometimes with a 'registry'. Not hard to fake really, I suppose.

[HairOfTheDog]

I will say this, what makes those horses that valuable is their winnings and experience competively. Without their true identity known, she would have to sell them as very nice prospects with no history, and would get perhaps a quarter of that.

[AnAmericanMother]

Aren't horses, especially horses this valuable, sold with some type of registration papers?

Yes, they come with papers. Each "approved" horse is assigned a number and the foals have breeding certificates issued at the time of foaling. Most of the warmblood breeds also get a brand - the Trakehners have a set of antlers on the shoulder, the Hannoverians a stylized "H".

If you don't have a breeding certificate or pedigree, I would think the horse would sell for 1/4 its value with "papers". You can sell a horse on "looks", movement and performance to some degree, but you will never get the money you could with the papers, because the pedigree gives breeding value. But this woman is so "out of it" that I don't think she even considered these factors. I mean -- Rustoleum???

Of course, papers can be faked for the gullible buyer . . .