My former trainer rescued a horse at auction (Bastrop, LA) recently. She is trying to identify him and hopes that maybe we can find the previous owner. The horse has a brand and I’m wondering if anybody out there recognizes what it is. FB_IMG_1664529598311|556x500 (upload://6ZeVMTbaB8tVMf3vug0WWAkeMlX.jpeg) . She is also going to see if he is microchipped.
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The brand would read Bar S Bar. But brands are registered by state and sometimes by county, so without any more history it might be hard to use this to find his origin.
You might start by searching the LA Brand Book.
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Do people who sell horses at auction want to be found?
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I just posted this ! lol
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Did he come from Bastrop Louisiana Ship Pen? AKA a kill pen?
If that’s the case, he could be from literally anywhere.
What is the location of the brand? Left hip, right hip, left thigh, right thigh? It looks like LH from the photo but I don’t want to assume.
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The person who sent the horse to auction probably doesn’t want found, but that person is likely not the only owner this horse has ever had. In case there is someone that cares about and misses this guy we want to try and find them 
Info from original post (linked below so you can see more photos):
What we know:
-Ran through Bastrop, LA kill pen about 8/10
-Coggins list him as a 12 year old warmblood, but his teeth appear younger and he has a ranch brand.
-Weirdest of all, his coggins say that he has a microchip starting in 99100, possibly a Save This Life microchip?
Update:
Update on the rescue gelding:
Dr. Trahan from Wilhite and Frees was out this evening. He believes the gelding is an ~8 year old warmblood. I scanned him and confirmed that he is chipped. The chip is not registered in the 30+ databases I’ve checked. I have called Save This Life, Peeva, and 911 Pet Chip. 911 has no support, the rest all claim the chip isn’t theirs.
We’ve also gotten nowhere on the brand. I know it doesn’t belong to Bar S Bar in NJ, I have spoken to them. Everyone seems to agree it’s a DIY brand and may not represent where he was bred. I can confirm that there are Bar S Bar brands or ranches in LA, TX, and KS, but I don’t have contact info for any of them.
As for his health, bloodwork is being run tonight and a respiratory panel will be sent off tomorrow. An in-barn test detected 0 bacteria, so his illness is likely viral. His body condition is a 1 which unfortunately means we have to re-feed him slowly. He’s been prescribed banamine and antibiotics.
This boy is the sweetest horse in the world and I would love to know who once cared for him enough to microchip him. Please keep sharing!
Link to the original post: https://www.facebook.com/kellyduttonwef/posts/pfbid0gq9VFs2GWE6PSGbJuUHYp7mHgLcG6Sy3JuGK3H1J9VdhBJzUbdeut7oteKzFQBCkl
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That is heartbreaking. Thank you and your old trainer for helping him.
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The AAHA chip search site is just US and Canada, isn’t it? Could this guy be a European import, with a European chip?
Here’s another chip registry to check out, this one didn’t come up on the AAHA site. It’s not registered but maybe they can tell you who they sold that batch to.
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Horses in Louisiana have required a brand or microchip for a Coggins test since the late 1980s, but most are not registered anywhere except maybe in the records of the veterinarian who implanted it. Maybe contact the LA State Veterinarian, or the Dept of Agriculture and Forestry to see if they can search Coggins records by microchip number.
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NAERIC has a microchip registry - one of their types is a CanAm Sport Horse which would explain the combination of warmblood and ranch brand if you haven’t checked there
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Doing a search on icar.org shows WUXI FOFIA Technology Co., Ltd as having manufacturer code of 991 and product code of 991001.
Edited to add, there is a Bar S Bar Livestock outside of Houston, TX. They don’t have much of a FB page, but was able to identify individuals who are probably closely associated with the business and they appear to be pretty into the rodeo scene. There is breeding/sale of cats and bully breed dogs under the same business name with the same contact email. I couldn’t get a glimpse of a brand on horses, with the exception of one old photo with a different brand, and a very hard to see, but looked similar brand on a grey horse. I did not see any pictures I would recognize as being the horse in question.
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Another option : if it is a warmblood, it may have been shown, and you can do a search by microchip number on the USEF website. (The “search horses” section.)
I want to thank everyone for the ideas. Still no success figuring out who this fella is. At least he’s landed softly, really that is all that matters! If anyone has any other out of the box thoughts keep them coming.
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Is Louisiana a brand inspection state? If it is, you could check in with them, too. The TX brand board might also be worth a holler.
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I looked through the LA brand inspection info and didn’t see anything. Texas has a search, but you have to go by county. Sounds like the vet, trainer, and other horse folks (with more experience in brands) think this is just a home made one so probably a dead end.
To keep it fresh, you might put a notice up on the Announcements category.
I bought a 16.3 WB mare from the ol’ horse traders who visit the sales in Oregon and PNW. She had a WB brand that as much as I clipped could not identify. We thought perhaps some Canadian breed registry. She was schooled to the max for H/J. She had some issues, esp. with handling one hind, and we suspect she may have been an insurance escapee. Where the horse was scheduled to be PTS but was hidden away instead.
The brand board is an actual entity, and employs brand inspectors. I get that the TX brand book is incredibly overwhelming because it’s county based, but you can actually talk to a brand inspector there and see if he’s got any leads for you.
Really? The things I never knew.
OP, I’m no help but I’m happy this guy has a soft landing and I hope you find out who he is!
Yes. Horses need a brand, freeze brand, tattoo, or microchip to get a Coggins. For non-ranch horses, mcrochip is the easiest, and doesn’t mark up the horse. But in true Louisiana fashion, a former Ag Commissioner way back then made a deal with a microchip company, so that’s how we started using them so early. Microchip data registries didn’t come along til much later, and Louisiana horses still aren’t registered anywhere by microchip number. Well, no company has contacted me about mine (but I do hear from the dog microchip companies asking for updated info.)
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