I agree with you. I can't believe that the QH headset and way of going has crossed over to the harness arena. Sad really. And this is a different topic, but maybe someone on the thread can clear it up for me. A friend of mine and I were talking about Appys and how people have been playing around with it. Is it true that you can register an appy as an appy if it has no visible appy characteristics? I'm not calling her a liar, I just don't know if I should believe it.
Duchess is the one to ask, but I am fairly sure you can still register them if their breeding is Appaloosa, colored or not. There is some crackdown in showing them alongside colored horses, I believe. Many solid appearing mares make nice color-producing broodmares.
I think it's like Paints. You can register Paints with no color if they are Paint by breeding... they are called 'Breeding Stock Paints". Depending on conformation, they can be nearly as valuable as colored horses.
If the horse is purebred, they are registerable in the breed. Appaloosa is not just a color registry, and, any more, neither is Paint. It's a breed that has preferred markings.
Retaining the motivation to produce color is always important in breeds where color is unique, and so there is often debate and limitations placed on showing non-colored stock.