I have to ask...what is considered a "grade horse"? Is it a horse that isn't registered, or a horse that isn't conformationally correct?
I have two minis that I got a little over 3 years ago. My gelding was an auction rescue, so of course, there were no papers. My mare came from a breeder, and I was given the paperwork to transfer her in my name but I have never gotten around to doing it (sorry Jennifer!). There are several factors why...the mare will never be bred or shown, I tried taking pictures but they just never turned out the way that registration requires, and the paperwork is confusing for me. Plus both horses have a forever home here (even if I'd have to get a second job working at the local McDonalds for extra money), and I could care less about paperwork. I didn't set out to find a registered horse and then never do the paperwork, I happened to contact the seller and she had exactly what I wanted, and she just happened to come with papers.
What bothers me is people talk about the registration papers being a horses heritage, yet a lot of people revoke those papers anyway if a horse is non-breeding material or a dwarf. Why? Don't those papers still show the lineage regardless of the outcome? And whats the difference of revoking paperwork, or just never getting it transfered?