Hello! I posted awhile back about freeze branding. I’m looking to do it once again. I had a question, though. What happens if the mane or tail hair gets branded? Does it turn white, too?
It would probably turn white but I’ve never see a horse branded where mane or tail would affected.
Where are you planning on getting your horse freeze branded?
P.
I had my first horse freeze branded in the 90s. It is difficult to make sure it’s readable, especially on a light colored horse. The technician that did my mare did pretty well, but as she aged, it was harder to see (she was a buckskin).
If you are curious, they process itself didn’t appear to hurt (she acted like someone was pushing on her neck) but the area soon swelled and became quite painful. You’ll need anti-inflammatories/pain control.
I don’t regret doing it. I was heading into uncertainty because I was off to college and then the military. My horses after that were microchipped by the military vet on base. Much easier way to identify them and the chip didn’t move, like they can in dogs and cats.
I hadn’t decided on location yet. I was considering doing something that would include a piece of mane, though. Super easy to spot the Arabian with a white chunk of mane on one side and a freeze brand on the other.
I’m doing it because I’m military and about to be stationed overseas. I’m rough boarding while I’m gone, but just want them both easily identifiable just in case.
Who is going to do this? I cannot find anyone to brand my horse. Vets won’t do it.
I have one horse that is hot branded and I consider that a great ID for a plain dark horse. The other horse is a plain bay and I would like some sort of distinguishing mark.
Years ago I was planning to freeze brand my black Trakehner gelding. I talked to a couple vets and breeders about it and they said, in their experience, freeze brands took longer to heal and felt it was a more painful “wound” than hot branding. I liked the idea of prominent white hairs on a black coat for visibility, but decided to follow their advice. My horse hardly reacted to the heated iron and I applied the recommended salve to it daily. He never showed any signs of pain or discomfort, and it healed up uneventfully. No, it wasn’t as visible as a white brand, but it did the job. Just my $0.02…
PS: I had this done at a Trak breed inspection.
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We also see a much more painful, extended healing time, on freeze branded horses. Sometimes the marks “weep” to make it worse. Hot branding horses needs a smaller iron (calf iron say cowboy friends), shorter “hold time” on skin than for adult cattle branding. Horses have much thinner skin, burns thru easily. Iron is at a specific heated temputature by color, not white or black hot.
Watching an experienced WB Assoc brander in action, it was quick and trauma free. No excitement. Lead them up, stop, hot branding iron on, horse moves away from brand, done. Brands healed over a couple weeks with no medicating. No swelling or weeping. If you start “doing things,” medicating, washing to the brand site, the brand may not stay clear to read, lines might blur.
I like the idea of branding for ID, easily visible to any ignorant person looking at a horse. Descriptions to non-horse folks are often beyond their comprehension. ANY horse is A BIG ONE! But saying horse has a JK on his rump makes things easier to look for and ID. Monogramed like a towel, easy to read! Microchips are good, just not visible. You need a chip reader and a casual observer may not know the difference between a sorrel, blood-bay, or chestnut, when looking for a red horse to check it.
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Thanks for all the input on hot branding. I’m choosing freeze branding for a reason, though. If a horse is stolen, police are not allowed to go out to a pasture to see if the horse has a brand. It needs to be easily visible. Branding is something that will happen once in their life. At least for mine.
I would prefer this not turn into a discussion on freeze vs hot branding.
Back to the question on if freeze branding will turn mane hair white.
Thank you!
I’ve found vets that will do a freeze brand. I never looked into hot branding.
Most freeze brands I have seen are either on the shoulder or under the saddle. I suspect that under the mane is A) not visible at a distance and B) not easy to apply as it is a flexible spot and the horse might move during application. The other thing with them is that they can fade and blur over the years, even on dark coats. They can be hard to see on light coats even when new. Wooly winter coats can also hide them. Microchips are the most secure ID. So to answer your question, dont know, never seen a freeze brand on the mane.
I had a dark bay gelding freeze branded on his left hip. The brand “07” was visible, albeit with a winter coat harder to read but anyone could see that “something” was on his left hip. Like you, I like visual ID on a horse.
Freeze branding skin has a long history and is a known entity. Freeze branding the mane could theoretically produce white hair in the same way, but doesn’t have the same history. It’s pretty well understood how long you need to leave the iron on for the white hair effect, but not known how that would translate to the mane. Not long enough? No freeze. Too long? NO MANE. The wound management on top of the crest might also be an issue.
In many states, too, there are rules and regulations about where brands can be applied and what they look like. It’s not just a free for all.
Mustangs are freeze branded on the neck. It’s very visible.
I was more looking to have the brand extend to the mane and hit the edge of it. Especially since people haven’t seen a horse with a mane brand. I’d hate to end up with a bald spot there. I would not be looking to do the full thickness of the mane.
I’m guessing (and this is only a guess) that applying the freeze brand to the mane hair might turn that section white temporarily, but because the pigment starts at the crest, it would grow out if it even affected the color in the first place.
I would not expect that the time the iron needs to be left on the skin to produce the white hair to be the same as the time the iron needs to be on the mane to produce white hair.
Running the neck brand into the mane is much more likely to just reduce the visibility/readability of the brand.
You yourself just said that the neck brand is very visible. There’s really no reason to experiment with the mane. Stick with what works, no need to reinvent the wheel here 
ETA: Here is a neck freeze brand that’s been placed high, and a portion (the top part of the “A”) is in the mane. The mane isn’t white, and the brand is not quite as readable as if it were placed lower on the neck.
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Not looking to reinvent the wheel. Just tweak it. My thought was to create a brand that extended past into the mane. So that the white part of the mane is a part of the brand. Like on purpose.
For example. A sunrise with rays off of it extending into the mane would look pretty neat on a mane that’s kept 3-4 inches tall. Provided the mane turns white where it’s supposed to. It would be eye catching and unique. Exactly what one is looking for with a visible identification mark.
You really can’t, for the most part, just make something up with regard to brands. There are rules about what they can look like and where they can go on the animal.
And as that pic showed, extending the neck freeze brand into the mane doesn’t make the mane white. It would probably take a different application time to do that, and since it’s not been done, that time is unknown.
If you’re not using the neck brand system that’s currently accepted in the US for Mustangs etc, then you’ll need to research the brand laws in your state, register your brand with the brand board, and then have the iron made. Start with your state’s agriculture department.
I’ve had horses freeze branded on occasion (a service offered by a livestock association to members, performed by very experienced persons).
My horses have had either no reaction to the branding, or acted as though it stung a little (that was the one very light colored horse that required the brand to be left in place a little longer, in order to result in a bald brand that would look dark, rather than a white one).
There was no real wound, no weeping, nothing as described by goodhors or lusoluv, and I was surprised to read their comments. Perhaps this was due to the better skill of the experts who have branded my horses? I’d absolutely do it again.
With plush winter coats, the brands are less visible at that time of year, but I can always clip that area.
Here, as Simkie mentioned, one can’t do just anything and register it as a brand.
