Freeze Branding

[SLW]

I freeze branded a colt I had years ago. He was black with a star, nothing else to ID him at a glance. I did his birth year- 07- on his left hip.

My current crew has microchips which as mentioned above, require a reader so good in the long term but not for a quick visual ID.

[Festivity]

I had mine Freeze Marked, this is where they freeze brand the breed, birth year, and registry number for registries that participate or they can do a state based number in a code. This used to be big in the Arab world and it makes it much easier to identify horses. Mine were lightly sedated so they wouldn’t wiggle since it’s on the neck. No care needed afterwards and no issues or soreness. I’d do it again when I have a few that need it.

[4horses]

The one horse I saw freeze branded had quite a bit of swelling afterwards and was definitely painful.

I’m unsure of how that would prevent theft. Around here, people who steal horses usually slaughter them, so a brand is not really a deterrent.

It aids in identification but a missing horse is still really hard to find once they go missing.

[Kyrabee]

I had an Arab gelding freeze branded. Then I went out of town for a few days.

When I came back his mane was gone over the freeze branded. Apparently he got very itchy. Maybe a little moisturizer would have helped? His mane grew back but I would guess he had a couple days of pretty intense itching/discomfort. The brand was OK and healed well.

[SLW]

@4horses

The one horse I saw freeze branded had quite a bit of swelling afterwards and was definitely painful.

I’m unsure of how that would prevent theft. Around here, people who steal horses usually slaughter them, so a brand is not really a deterrent.

It aids in identification but a missing horse is still really hard to find once they go missing.

Correct, freeze branding does not prevent theft but it does assist in ID’ing a stolen horse at auction houses, stables, borders, etc.

If a thief is scouting out horses they’ll probably prefer unmarked horses over marked horses.

[MsM]

I think it would be a good idea to have a small, standardized freeze brand for horses that are microchipped. If you opt to have the brand, your horse is identified as having a chip so everyone would know to scan for the individual info.