Hi everyone. Ive been perusing more horse sales ads (a rather dangerous thing :lol:), and noticed a six year old well bred Holsteiner mare that was premium mare at her inspection. However, judging from her photos, she is not branded. I thought all registered Holsteiners were required to be branded, especially if they earn a respectable score at their inspection. Is it just personal preference for the breeder, or is there a reason why some horses are not branded?
Since nobody else has responded, I THINK that “hot brands” are no longer permitted in Europe, and chips are used instead.
Are you assuming she’s not branded just because you can’t see an easily visible brand? Most of my branded horses have brands that all but disappear for like 80% of the year. There are periods during shedding seasons where you can see them at the right angle, but it’s tough. All of my 5+ year old Holsteiners are hot branded, and my assumption is that one is as well, it’s just not easy to see.
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The inspection I went to, I could choose to brand or not brand my horse.
She doesn’t have a brand, as it cannot be seen in videos or pictures. She is a fully-clipped chestnut, so that in itself makes it much easier to identify a brand on vs. a dark bay or black horse. I understand doubting someone being able to indentify something like that on a darker horse.
Also, this is a total “duh!” moment for me. She wouldn’t be my first horse imported from Europe, so I don’t know why this time I forgot that they made branding illegal.
