Has anyone had their horse chipped? I seem to recall a client having this done at a clinic where I worked, but I have no idea how they came about obtaining the chip. I don’t seem to recall it being part of our usual inventory so I think the client purchased the chip somewhere, gave it to the vet, who then installed it.
Yeah. I got mine from the Jockey Club. Vet put them in with spring shots. Probably not an option if you don’t have a Thoroughbred but your vet will have a source. Mine did.
Vets can definitely do it. I had mine done for the Hano registry, but our vet here recently chipped all of the horses, since we’re all so paranoid about fire evacuations. It’s pretty typical in California now, since it’s the best way to ensure you find your horse after they’ve been emergency evacuated in scary fire season.
Probably the only thing you can do is an end around and contact the owner of record on the chip.
They should have signed over the chip registration. If they did and they told the sale rep about the chip with appropriate info, you might have something.
If the horse passed through several hand after they sold the horse, you have no position
In Louisiana a permanent form of ID is required for a coggins (brand, tattoo or microchip). I am not sure where the chips come from but you should be able to call La Dept of Agriculture to get more information.
I had mine microchipped by the vet when he came out to do annual vacs and coggins.
Does anyone know the make of these chips your horse has? I found microchipidequine.com but the price is deceptively low for just one…
This is the 2nd time I’ve asked my vet about it… first time was months ago and I never heard back.
You think they should be more than thirty bucks?
They’re $15 a piece through the Jockey Club, or free, IIRC, with new registrations.
Application was surprisingly costly. $85/head? Something like that. More than I expected.
Our vet uses “Home Again” chips. I’m sure there are others. We don’t bother subscribing to the service. We just have the chip inserted (vet provides the chip) and use the number when the horse is registered with USEF.
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My horse’s chip is from Datamars. I just told the vet he needed to be microchipped and she came out and did it, I didn’t have to source the chip myself.
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All my horses have Datamars chips. I just called the vet and she obtained them for me. I know my vet typically gets a shipment in right before hurricane season because that seems to be when we all remember to get an identifier on our horses.
he breeding barn I used to work at used AKCReunite (which is what my cats have without issue). They would order the chips from AKCReuinte themselves since they were buying in bulk, then the vet would put them in so long as the chips were kept in the original packaging.
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I believe my horse was done with the AKC version mentioned above. I will have to look it up.
For all of my horses the chip came from the vet. I scheduled micro-chipping during a vaccine appointment and the vet brought along the stuff to chip the horse.
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My vet had them and put them in. USEF has a requirement that they can’t start with a specific number (which I don’t recall). So, i just made sure that the ones the vet had did not have the taboo number. Otherwise, the brand should not matter. Even if you don’t care about USEF future potential buyer may. If horse will never leave your care, that doesn’t matter at all.
The vet has a special gadget that puts the chip in the nuchal ligament.
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I’ve had both of my horses chipped by a veterinarian. I had them done when they were taken in for annual vaccinations and teeth. The chips are the Home Again brand.
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Yup, just had our filly chipped this summer while the vet was out for something else. We got the chip through her registry (Hanoverian) in the spring, and held onto it until our vet came for another visit. The vet injected it right then and there. Very easy and quick.
Most reputable registries will have a microchip option, and they send you (or your vet) the microchip via mail. For some of them, the chip is packaged into registration fees - for others, you may have to pay separately for the microchip, but it is not expensive in the scheme of things, and is very easy to put in.
Some vets can also microchip via their own chip registry - call your vet and schedule it ahead of time, as not all vets carry the “gun” in their truck.
Thanks all. Going with the Datamars chip 
Lost Horse International sells them,
OMG. I apparently should start a side business. A chip is the same thing as a PIT tag we use in wildlife biology. I order them for $1-2 a piece. I have tagged fish, snakes, crayfish, mammals. Geez, I have 1000 tags in my office right now. I’m tagging 200 fish next Tues - if these were horses (much easier!), I could make $17,000 in one day!
Sooo…I’ll tag your horse for half price, lol.
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To be fair, the cost of the chip does include registration of it
You got me though on the insertion. I was pretty surprised when that bill arrived. But vet costs ARE nuts here! :lol: :sigh:
Just a quick note on registration, some vets do not preregister the chip or include the registration chip as part of the cost. Mine are all registered to AKCReuinte with their Datamars chips since that’s where my cats and dogs are also registered. It was a one-time fee and all my animals are in the same location for record keeping purposes. So be sure to price around different registration locations and think of what works for your lifestyle.
