Sec. 12.044. EQUINE INCENTIVE PROGRAM

(a) The department shall create and administer an equine incentive program to provide an incentive for the owners of certain Texas-based horses to enter the horses as participants in horse events in this state. The program may apply only to the following breeds of horses:

(1) Appaloosa horses;

(2) paint horses; and

(3) quarter horses.

(b) On the filing of an annual report with the applicable breeders' association, the owner of a stallion that has bred more than five mares during the 12-month period preceding the report shall submit a duplicate of the report to the department for the sixth and any subsequent mare bred by the stallion. An owner required to submit a duplicate breeding report by this subsection shall pay the department an equine incentive program fee in an amount of not less than $30 per mare bred, as determined by the department, in connection with each report submitted to the department.

(c) An owner required by Subsection (b) to submit a duplicate breeding report and equine incentive program fee may elect not to participate in the program by giving written notice to the department not later than the 30th day before the owner's annual breeding report is due to the applicable breeders' association.

(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), the owner of a stallion that has bred fewer than six mares may elect to participate in the program by submitting a duplicate breeding report and paying the equine incentive program fee required by Subsection (b) for each mare bred by the stallion.

(e) The department by rule shall provide for the use of fees collected under Subsection (b) to grant equine incentive awards to the owners of eligible foals that participate in horse events in this state. A foal is eligible for an incentive award under this section only if an equine incentive program fee has been paid on behalf of the foal's dam.

(f) The department by rule shall establish a point system by which the owner of an eligible foal may receive an equine incentive award based on the foal's participation in horse events held in this state that are sanctioned by the applicable horse breeders' association.

(g) The department may use not more than five percent of the fees collected under Subsection (b) to administer the program.

Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 405 , Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2009.