The long time question 

what do you prefer. We personally only have papered barrel stock. Some seem to not care. But are the grade worth much in the barrel industry without a set of papers 

After looking at the crazy ads and prices these days, I don't even know. 

 We have had great registered horses and great grade horses! Unless you are buying for stock to breed or to show at breed shows the ONLY papers that matter are the "win" records.

I personally don't worry if a horse has papers or not. I just need it to do the things I want to safely. But I am also not a trainer, breeder or a professional for that matter.

I currently have a grade mare.....didn't pay very much for her but I LOVE HER!!! I also don't buy to resell or breed, so papers don't make much difference to me.

I'd say it depends on the buyer. Someone in the big leagues is probably going to avoid grade, but someone just going to weekend jackpots probably won't care as much for the right horse. Geldings matter the least. If someone ever wants to breed a mare they will probably avoid grade 95% of the time. I'd buy a grade gelding, but never a mare. Don't care what the price is, could be $100. If she gets hurt and can't be used, I now have a useless horse. I personally will not ever breed grade. With incentives taking off the way they have, its hard enough for people to buy/sell anything registered thats not enrolled in the big ones. The market for grades is still present, but its going to be more playday type people. And there's always parents looking for good safe horses for their kids, grade or registered. And they'll pay for safe. Buy the buyer pool is very very limited I think 

Same here!!

Destri Devenport doenst mind buying/riding a grade horse. 

If buying a prospect, yes I want papers.  If buying a winner that's already winning, those paper checks, or paper money are WAY more important than registration papers.

For myself, I also show AQHA so I will not even look at a grade ad. Horse must be registered so I can show AQHA if I would like.

Papers don't make a good horse.

Correct! Know her well! THats probably because she rodeos and papers don't mean squat in rodeos, only if the horse can stop the clock. 

Growing up we never had the money to worry about papers so I never worried about it much.  I still do not but I do like to know who they are by and out of just because there are so many "breeders" out there that are continueing to breed animals with hereditary issues.  We are currently looking at a grade gelding as a project but did our background checks on his breeding for that reason.

I think it is personal preference and which direction you want to go. I grew up riding grade horses that we raised. Our stallion was registered but our horses were mainly used for ranch work but I did very well with my little 14 hand grade mare.  Some neighbors had nice registered horses and I decided that if I was going to improve and keep up with everyone, I needed registered horses. I study bloodlines of horses that are winning and try to immulate them. I do think that these stallion incentive programs are going to put the small breeder out of business. This is going to leave only young horses that are eligible for various incentives which will run the prices of the up and coming barrel prospects way up. I bred a couple of mares to stallions that aren't in any incentives. They will be in the ground next week. I just want fast horses that can hold their own in any competition. Hopefully I have a great combination. I have two that are in several incentives including Breeders Challenge. That has a one time fee of $300. That sounds great but to enter any Breeders Challenge races the entry fee is $500.  

Growing up all I had were grade horses. It wasn't till I was older and buying my own horses did I get a registered horse. My 2 running horses are both geldings therefore I wasn't worried about papers for them. If I buy a mare I do require them to be registered just in case if she gets hurt and has to be a broodmare. I do not breed or sell much tho. 

I only buy registered horses. I wouldn't rule out a grade if I knew the horse and the person selling it. If they have papers, it's hard to hide stuff like heriditary issues, past unsoundness problems, behavioral issues, the training it has had, etc. I recently bought a little Quarter horse from a guy who picked him up on his travels to resell. He didn't know much about him. I tracked down the breeder, the only name on his papers, and found out his whole history. It was great. Now I know what I am working with.  

I think you are probably going to pay a little more for a registered horse but I see people selling horses all the time the say they can be registered or they have papers and a signed transfer. If I see this I move on. AQHA Is difficult to deal with if everything is in order.  It really isn't their job to straighten out stuff so you can register a 7 year old horse. One other thing papers on some of these registries are worthless. Don't get pulled in to spend $50 in the half quarter horse registry or some of these others. I have one horse that I was dumb enough to register as a palomino. (She is AQHA.). I think with membership fee and registering as a 2 year old it cost me abou$125. Is she worth anymore?  No. 

grade is working for me :)

Like others have said  - I think it all depends on if you are showing breed shows or buying specifically for resale and what your plans are for that particular horse.

I have a paint mare with papers, but I did not buy her for her papers.  I bought her because she was the quietest thing I threw a leg over when I was  looking for a horse - also I had a dream about a palomino/white paint mare I called Annie - and the next day, there she was, she just happened to come with papers. LOL This weekend, she carted a novice rider all over some very rugged/rocky/hilly terrain and never took a wrong step.  She is my heart and could not be bought from me.

My other three are all grade.  My one eyed brown rescue mare carted me and the insulated saddle bags full of refreshments all over the same rugged terrain and never batted her eye at the things rubbing and sometimes flopping against her flanks, solid as a rock she was!  Which I was not expecting from a "free" horse - (I know, I know, there is no such thing as a free horse) LOL

I do run barrels on all my horses on a local level because I love the sport, but I also expect them to push cattle, trail ride, camp out, swim, do some obstacle stuff and hopefully they enjoy life with me as much as I enjoy life with them.  I am not looking to win any world championships or anything like that - I just love them.  

I very much agree with the statement above: "Papers don't make a good horse." One day I tried to hire graders to do research paper help for my studies on horse caring topics. And I have to say that I was disappointed, it was bizarre, even a stupid idea. Remember my words.