# Branding your horse?



## petitepyromaniac (Oct 12, 2010)

When is it acceptable to brand a horse?

I know with Warmbloods, when they're registered they get the breed logo thing branded on them. And I know that people who raise quarter horses put their ranch's brand on all the horses they raise...

But if someone just buys a horse, do they ever brand all the horses they buy with their own brand? What are the pros and cons of branding your horse?

_P.s. I'm not asking about whether it's HUMANE or not, and I don't want to start an argument over it. I just want to understand the point of brands, and why people do it, when they do it, the pros and cons, etc..._

Thanks!


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

I have known several people that have branded horses they didn't raise. It makes identification much easier if the horse ends up lost or stolen. All you have to do is register your brand with the state and buy a branding iron or a freeze brand. If you have never done it before find someone to help you that has branded a HORSE. It's different than branding a cow because the hide is much thinner.


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## petitepyromaniac (Oct 12, 2010)

kevinshorses said:


> All you have to do is register your brand with the state and buy a branding iron or a freeze brand.


Is there a difference between a branding iron and a freeze brand? If so, which do you recommend?

Also, will the state be able to tell you if the brand you chose has already been taken? Or is there a way you can look that up online?


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## lacyloo (Jul 1, 2008)

I like the idea and my previous horse was freeze branded by our vet.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

A freeze brand is usually mad eout of brass or copper to draw the heat out of the skin more efficently and a branding iron is made out of steel to hold the heat and burn the hide better. I don't know if there is an online brand book but if you contact a brand inspector they can look it up for you. You can register the same brand for different quaters of a horse ie, left shoulder or right hip, so if the brand you want is registered for the left hip you can still put it someplace else.


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## lilruffian (Jun 28, 2010)

My friend's parents brand all their horses (all freezebranded). It's really good if the horse gets lost or stolen (especially since they ride alot in the mountains where it's easy for a horse to get lost if it gets loose). 
I've heard vets tend to recommend freezebranding over the iron as it's supposed to be less paintful & heal faster. More expensive, though i'd think.


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## petitepyromaniac (Oct 12, 2010)

This is all very interesting!

My dad has made a few iron brands, but we've never used him, he just tests them on dead hides and sells them. I'll have to ask him if he's able to make one out of copper or brass...


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## my2geldings (Feb 18, 2008)

petitepyromaniac said:


> When is it acceptable to brand a horse?
> 
> I know with Warmbloods, when they're registered they get the breed logo thing branded on them. And I know that people who raise quarter horses put their ranch's brand on all the horses they raise...
> 
> ...


You certainly can buy your own brand. It's a matter of making sure your design is not being used in your area, you buy it and you can use it on your own horses or livestock. I think it's great if you have a good breeding program in place, because you are then advertizing your horses and making it clear to the public where your horses have come from. 

On a more personal level, if its a matter of branding your own single horse, it's a little silly. I had at one point considered getting a brand for my horses(I bred miniatures), but ended up deciding against it. It's all a personal reason. Unless you are seriously commiting to a large number of animals, I wouldn't put the money into it.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

For a freezebrand, it would be much easier to buy one because the copper/brass has to be thick enough to hold the cold for long enough without warming up from touching the skin. This is about the cheapest place I have found that you can buy them.
http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_product_group.html?cguid=74B18EC7-BA4A-4ADF-A899-6D3B1F9E8B6C

Also, one of the reasons why freezebranding is so popular among horse owners is that on darker colored horses, they are very visible from a distance since they grow back in white. Plus, they seem to be relatively painless where there is some pain with a hot iron.

I plan to get a freezebrand made one of these days and get all my horses branded. Mostly because it just looks cool but also for the safety reasons.


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## CinderEve (Oct 26, 2010)

On our ranch growing up any horse we raised or bought we freeze branded. I like the practice and think it's a good idea, since microchipping isn't exactly well spread throughout horses. It's a bit harder to hide a freezebrand (or any brand for that matter).


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## JennKzoo (Sep 23, 2010)

I've tried researching the brand my Morgan cross gelding has on his hind quarter. I can't find anywhere online how to contact the state, It goes to the University of Vermont website (Equine Law). Do I just contact them? I was told he was from NY but we are in Michigan, so could there be a nationwide contact?
Thanks, I didn't mean to hijack thread but I was going to post this anyway.


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## myhorseriesen (Nov 11, 2010)

i personally think it is cruel to brand horses . imagine if they did it to you.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

^^That's why freezebranding is becoming so popular. It doesn't hurt them.


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## lacyloo (Jul 1, 2008)

myhorseriesen said:


> i personally think it is cruel to brand horses . imagine if they did it to you.


 What about branding cattle? They brand them so they can be easily identified if they are stolen. Horses are *livestock *so, why not brand them too? Sure its going to be uncomfortable but I think the benefits make it worth it. 

Sorry I just get annoyed when people have the " omg poor we lil ponys" attitude...


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## horseservant (Jul 29, 2010)

I was looking at this old thread about branding. 
Some people say it is not worthwhile but here are a few considerations.
One is horse rescues. I know of many rescued horses which were rehomed with strict buy back clauses and no slaughter clauses that have ended up at slaughter auctions. One horse it happened to twice! The horse is a nice horse.
Another issue here is that if there is a natural disaster, earthquake, wild fires,hurricanes, flooding etc, you and your horse may become separated. You want your horse back ASAP and if you have a brand and your horse has been rounded up with other horses from the disaster in a big pen the people dealing with the animals can get your horse back to you much faster.
The stolen horse issue goes without saying.
I microchip but you have to be hands on with a scanner to read a microchip. A brand can be read at a distance even with binoculars! 
There are people on the ground at a lot of auctions spotting for horses that don't belong there. Once a horse gets there they are often very hard to catch and handle. Nobody is going to look for your microchip. They will see your brand though.
So I am considering freeze branding. Having rescued some good horses from slaughter I want to make sure they never go back there


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## horseservant (Jul 29, 2010)

myhorseriesen said:


> i personally think it is cruel to brand horses . imagine if they did it to you.


Having them terrified and killed in a slaughteryard is far worse than a freeze brand. If a person cares enough to make this investment to try to keep their horse in their good care I am happy. We send tens of thousands of good horses to slaughter every year. Slaughter is inhumane. We spend a terrific amount of time pointing fingers at other countries for their inhumanr treatment of animals and the big game hunting when we can't even bother to fix the horse slaughter problem in our country. Sure we currently don't slaughter horses in this country. We sweep the problem under the carpet by shipping them to Mexico and Canada. Shame on us. If you want yo talk about inhumane turn the full force of your disapproval on horse slaughter. Freeze branding is mostly about keeping your horse out of that system. Believe me, if your horse is stolen it isn't so somebody can pet it and feed it carrots. The horse is going to Mexico to be stabbed in the neck with knives and turned into meat. If you don't believe me read what Temple Grandin says about horse slaughter


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

Can someone explain to me how branding keeps any horse from being sold to kill buyers at an auction? 

Brands are really hard to trace (just check any of the threads on HF of people trying to find out where their horses' brands came from... I don't think I've seen a successful one yet) and to my knowledge auctioneers are not required to make any effort to compare the horses at auction to any list of reported stolen horses. Even if you were able to successfully trace a brand, it only tells you who registered that brand, not who currently owns the horse.

I really think microchipping is a better alternative. The microchip is a unique identifier that can positively identify a specific horse and its registration can be easily updated to reflect changing ownership. Some breed registries already require them, and The Jockey Club recently announced they're going to start requiring them in 2017. If the other larger registries like AQHA, APHA, AHA, etc also follow suit it will make sense to start pressuring auction houses to scan for microchips.


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## ksorensen (Jun 15, 2015)

My vet says that freeze bands are more gentle i suppose and they last long. I have horses that have both types and the freeze band does look alot cleaner and easier to read.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

verona1016 said:


> Can someone explain to me how branding keeps any horse from being sold to kill buyers at an auction?


Sure.

When any livestock, including horses, shows up at a border or an auction with a brand, the person with it MUST have a brand inspection. The paper provided by a brand inspector is essentially the title to that animal. No title? The animal(s) are held until ownership is verified.

This only works if you operate in states where brands are respected by law. Vanity brands (those with someone's personal initials, or some picture they think looks western), brands that are put on for looks in places where there is no registry are useless.

Oh. And people do get brands on themselves. Hot brands. Then an abrasive substance is rubbed on the healing brand to promote keloid scarring. The raised scarring that some people do naturally.


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

im looking at angle branding out horses. its like the blm brands but instead of the "u" for the blm it will ethier hand a symbol for their registry or state. since non of our 5 horses are registered it would be the symbol for az.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

In some rurul areas, microchips are very rare. Most auctions and vets around here don't even check horses for chips because nobody chips their horses here.

Brands are a whole other ball game. They won't prevent a horse from being legally sold to a kill buyer, but if you have a horse stolen, you can call all vets and sale barns and tell them to be on the lookout for a chesnut horse with a Rocking J on his left shoulder. If someone spots him, they will "delay" the horse and call the cops.

BUT, I live in VERY rural America. I suppose that would be a lot harder in heavily populated areas.


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

boots said:


> When any livestock, including horses, shows up at a border or an auction with a brand, the person with it MUST have a brand inspection. The paper provided by a brand inspector is essentially the title to that animal. No title? The animal(s) are held until ownership is verified.


How does the brand inspector verify that the person requesting the inspection certificate is the owner of the horse? Or that the horse is the horse they say it is? My horse came with a brand inspection done by the seller, but it's not clear to me that the inspector did anything other than say "Yep, there's a brand on this horse." I also know that my horse has a half brother that would fit the same description (cremello with same brand).


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## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

In Germany the horse is branded with its breed "letter" and a number which is specific to that horse, and is on their equine passport. 

I do believe, however, they have stopped branding in Germany and the horse is microchipped. 

All horses I have owned have been branded.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

You have to Register your Brand with the State . Dept of Ag. or it is useless.
You have to pay fees to keep the brand registry valid. 
The state has to approve your brand there are specific guidelines, and the State will tell you where to place the brand on the livestock, example.. rt gaskin or left hip, or rt shoulder . 
Also in CA if you steal a branded animal and get caught it makes it a Federal offence.


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## Chasin Ponies (Dec 25, 2013)

Branding is extremely uncommon here in the East and Midwest. Yes, you will see a horse now and then with a brand at a horse show but it's definitely not the norm. Usually it's a QH that has ended up here. And, there is no such thing as a state brand inspector in these states.


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## BiologyBrain (Jul 9, 2015)

Branding and microchipping sound like great ways to prevent horses (animals) from being sent to slaughter or for reclaiming lost or stolen horses. However, in reality it relies on other people doing more than just catching and caring for the animals...

I don't count on anyone returning my animals to me. I do the best that I can to keep them with me and safe. I keep good records of their physical descriptions (photos are nice too, but aren't always necessary depending on how good your description is) just in case. If one disappears for whatever reason, I contact as many places as possible as often as possible with the best description possible.


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## ChitChatChet (Sep 9, 2013)

We have 3 horses that have been freeze branded.

The person we got them from has her horses running on a huge ranch that very rural. Nice horses sometimes come up missing thus branding is a preventive.


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## karliejaye (Nov 19, 2011)

Both of my boys came to me already branded, which I like. Makes identification a bit easier. One has a freeze brand on his shoulder and one a hot iron brand on his gaskin. The one with a hot iron brand is hard to see, since the hair came back dark brown and he has the same color spots, being an appaloosa.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

verona1016 said:


> How does the brand inspector verify that the person requesting the inspection certificate is the owner of the horse? Or that the horse is the horse they say it is? My horse came with a brand inspection done by the seller, but it's not clear to me that the inspector did anything other than say "Yep, there's a brand on this horse." I also know that my horse has a half brother that would fit the same description (cremello with same brand).


When we sell a horse in WY, MT, and western SD, both the seller and the buyer are present for the inspection.

The seller has his brand inspection (title) and proves his identity (federal offense to lie about that). The brand inspector checks the animals and makes up a new certificate for the new owner (who's identity is also verified). 

Sell at an auction? You wait your turn until the brand inspector(s) check out whatever you are selling and verifies that you are in fact the owner and who you say you are. Whether you are selling 5 cull cows or 2000 yearling steers. You wait on them and appreciate their work.

Hairy coats in the winter? The inspector may have his own cordless clippers or have helpers who jump in and clip the area(s) to be read.

When I got started in cows, some of the cheaper ones had 3 and 4 brands on them. There was either something wrong with them, or they were guilty by association with cows that were known to be nasty or something. The brand inspector said reading my cows was like a history lesson. 

Life got better, but I owe a lot to those first cows.


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

I've been considering freeze branding my horses. I never really knew if it would do much good as an I.D. mark here in florida. This thread prompted me to go online and check. This state has a whole list of brands being used and who they are registered to. It costs 10 bucks to register it and 5 for renewing it (I guess every year). I think I'm going to do it as there have been quite a few stolen horses in the state. Every little bit would be a help to get my babies back if they came up missing. Thanks for pulling up an old thread.


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

boots said:


> When we sell a horse in WY, MT, and western SD, both the seller and the buyer are present for the inspection.
> 
> The seller has his brand inspection (title) and proves his identity (federal offense to lie about that). The brand inspector checks the animals and makes up a new certificate for the new owner (who's identity is also verified).
> 
> ...


Interesting, and certainly sounds like a lot more than they do here. In Oregon, a brand inspection is never required for horses, but they offer them (for horses that may need them while traveling out of state). In Washington, where my horse came from, they are required only when the horse is sold to a buyer out of state. So a horse may have been sold a dozen times over without ever having a brand inspection...


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

A few years ago I got interested in freeze branding so looked up everything I could find on the subject. I found a research paper on freeze branding cantle vs hot branding. Pain is measured by the levels of cortisol. Blood tests were done prior to both types of branding, shortly afterward and an hour after. In both cases cortisol levels were high for approx. the same period of time.


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