The American Quarter Horse Association will begin the transition to microchips in place of lip tattoos to identify racing American Quarter Horses effective January 1, 2024.
Any horse that was not previously tattooed as of January 1, 2024, will have their microchip number scanned and used as part of the identification verification done by an approved AQHA-contracted identifier. Horses who were identified by tattoo before January 1, 2024, shall be allowed to continue to utilize their tattoo as a means of identification.
The microchip must be ISO compliant. This means the microchip must operate at a radio frequency of 134.2 kHz and contain 15 digits.
AQHA is currently in the process of building an application to be used by our Identifiers named QHChip, and training will be provided to them soon.
Once a horse is microchipped and inspected by an official identifier, the information will be available on the identification platforms, both in InCompass Solutions and the QHChip app.