Good luck. We’ll all be wishing you well on the road tomorrow. 
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That sounds like a very full day!
I’m curious about your new brand. I had TBs who obviously came with their lip tattoos so know nothing about brands. Did you design it, and who do you get them registered with? Sorry for being nosey, but when you mentioned brands, all I could think of was an institute of heraldry. 
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In TX livestock and so horses are registered in the court house branding books of every county.
You can register a brand in one county and if same brand is already registered in another, register a different brand for your livestock there.
In other SW and W states the state keeps brand books, your brand won’t be used by anyone else in the whole state. Brands are sold when one owner is not needing it any more and the prettier ones sell high.
State brand inspectors have to be present at every sale, without one you can’t proceed and before you haul cattle anywhere on highways, you need a brand inspector to check brands and certify the load/s, is serious business.
The TX livestock association also registers brands and has inspectors that work in law enforcement and also assist with sales, checking brands.
They have found stolen horses by their brand at sales and previously at slaughter plants.
In the SW and W is recommended horses be branded as an extra security.
Thieves are not as apt to steal a horse if it has a brand that is easy to spot.
The TSCRA and local vets produce several branding clinic days a year so people can get their horses freeze branded.
Our vet had a whole set of freeze branding irons and kept our horse branding iron with theirs, as he branded our new horses regularly.
Since they did much reproductive work, they had the dry ice on hand, not all vets would have it.
Hope that answers some of your questions.
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Precisely. And mine are run of the mill red quarter type horses, so not easy to pick out of a crowd.
@Fiesta01 I designed it, had Pittsburg Foundry clean up the symmetry/lines/etc and then make the iron itself. It’s registered with the county I’m in, per the laws here. It wasn’t terribly expensive and my design is fairly unique for this area so it was quickly accepted.
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That’s so interesting. Thanks much for the explanation!
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That’s really cool that you designed it. Thanks!
OK, full report.
The vet generally agreed with the “20+” age assessment by teeth. So, either he’s just got old teeth, or he’s an old man, but that aside I feel vindicated in sending him to another professional to insist he get his remaining teeth worked on; he had one tooth near the back that was so tall it was making contact with the upper gums and had caused an ulcer, so chewing was extremely painful.
In other news, he was checked from stem to stern and the only finding was a funny ‘spot’ in one eye (not necessarily a blind spot, just an anomalous unpigmented ‘spot’) and some minor stifle stiffness. His bloodwork came back fine. Everyone was shocked to see the pictures and how much his condition has improved in just 10 weeks. ETA: vet was also shocked to hear about the rocks that were passed.
We just got home, put blankets back on and turned everyone out. Bo is behaving a bit oddly - he was thinking about trying to lay down while I was putting his blanket on in the middle of the yard, then trotting in hand to the pasture and once I took his halter off, he immediately laid down. For now I’m letting him rest but keeping a concerned eye on him, perhaps he’s just worn out from the traveling and sedation. He isn’t thrashing or rolling or anything, just doesn’t seem 100% comfortable yet. I will check on him in a bit.
And I forgot to bring along the iron, so nobody got brands today. We’ll go back next Tuesday just for that. Everyone loaded like pros, even my youngster who has only had a handful of trailer rides and has absolutely never been stuck in the back spot of the trailer.
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Good report, puts your mind at ease.
What did the vet think of the rocks and sand in the manure, is he worried there may be some trapped still inside?
Fingers crossed that he is just not feeling well from the excitement, but nothing else going on now with him that a bit of down time won’t help.
Did the vet thinks he looks awesome, compared with what you bought some weeks ago?
Sometimes the effects of even lighter sedation are very slow to wear off and its not like he has spent much time in a vet clinic or even just a long trailer trip in a loooong time. Very well could slow him down for a bit, let him rest if he wants to.
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He was not particularly concerned about any more sand/rocks being trapped inside, no. Vet agrees he could still use a bit more weight over his topline, but otherwise looks fantastic for 10 weeks along.
I do hope it’s just the excitement of travel and sedation that has him worn out. The behavior when we got home was just very off, I don’t know what type of sedation was used this time but he didn’t act this way after his last trip to the vet (which also included sedation). He is currently laying flat out in the grass where I left him, hopefully sleeping off the hangover. I can see him well enough from my back porch and he’s definitely breathing! But I will be checking on him regularly.
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That’s pretty cool. I can’t wait to see what it looks like!
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Thanks for the vet update 
Meh… 20 is not so old.
This morning my 22yo Hackney Pony & probably-20 TWH were performing Airs, while the mini all but galloped to meet me 
Making my heart race as they were on rockhard ground with a thick crust of ice 
I’ll be JINGLING for whatever made Bo NQR afterwards to be transient 
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Glad he got that rogue tooth taken care of. This was a big day for Bo, so he may need time to recover. I am a lightweight when it comes to sedation and painkillers
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You might be waiting a while to see much of a design on the horses! 
This is a fine time of year to do it, since the horses are still growing in summer coats underneath the fluff - but it will be a couple months before the white hair grows in fully and you can really see the design. Texas A&M has a free, educational download on freeze branding, if anyone is interested in learning more about the process itself: https://agrilifelearn.tamu.edu/s/product/freeze-branding-horses/01t4x000004OfZr
Here’s a picture of the iron itself, though, made of brass:
It’s not huge, 5" wide by about 2.5" tall. I fussed around with some more typical ranch-styled brands, you know the kind; letters/numbers with shapes you often see on western horses, but it didn’t suit. And my initials are EW, so I was trying to avoid inadvertently stamping my misfit horses with the word “ew”. 
I started playing with more script-y letters, that’s when the crown idea hit me - and so the scalloped top edges of the two crowns are my ‘hidden’ W and E.
Bo is back on his feet after a VERY long nap, I’m about to go feed first dinner so we will see if he’s still feeling hungover.
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Yay! For Bo’s recovery!
& For your Very Cool brand design 
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Your brand is very pretty!
Goodness I’m irate on Bo’s behalf that the first vet didn’t take care of that back tooth. Did the vet today feel like Bo may be able to eat long stem forage more going forward? Maybe removing that discomfort from that tall back tooth will help him worry down a bit more of the grass at least!
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Bo needs some jingles folks, we are headed back to the vet ASAP.
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Oh no!! jingling & crossing all my crossibles for sweet Bo.
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Oh no. Jingles for Bo.
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Jingles, hugs and prayers heading your way. 
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