I have a horse who most likely came from an auction in NY/PA several years ago, he was old then, even older now. He knows “gee” and “haw” or their commands for the amish horses for left and right. This leads me to believe at one point he was an amish buggy horse. He also has very good english riding foundation, he clearly had some good training but the timeline is unclear and I know nothing about his history. On his left hip is a hot brand MS 3/4 stacked. He has been tongue lolling/libbing the whole time i’ve had him, with a bridle, in a halter, or after being given treats or when he finishes his grain, which i’ve been told was a common characteristic for thoroughbreds, but lord knows. Do the amish even brand horses? He’s easily in his mid 20’s and the brand is in good shape still so it seems to have been done right. If anyone knows of horses from this area having that brand please let me know. Of course he could be from anywhere but the heavy amish populations by these auctions makes 100% sense for him to come from there. I’ve looked through every free brand book availabe on the internet and have come up empty.Thanks!
You might check with the State Departments of Agriculture, to see if they keep a Brand Registry. Our Midwest State does keep a file on State registered brands.
We checked once with our State Department of Agriculture on getting a registered brand for our farm. We got a couple forms to fill out, send in with our brand design for approval. We never did file, but it was comforting to know ‘someone’ was keeping track of these obscure matters, in our State.
I would think someone going to the trouble of branding a horse, also went to the effort of registering his brand with his State. Twenty+ years ago, I seem to remember there was quite a bit of horse thieving going on. Animals supposedly being sold over into Canada for meat. We thought of branding as a deterrent, as did other horse owners. “Monogramming” a horse was a help to law enforcement, being visible, easy to spot going thru the animals on trailers. Law enforcement is not horse savvy in most cases, can’t tell a bay from a chestnut or even a buckskin! Even giving sizes was not helpful, all equines are ‘big’ to non-horse folks, 14h to 17h!
Old time issues, theft, but a valid concern then.
The Bureau of Animal Health and Diagnostic Services in the Department of Ag keeps a brand registry for PA, but the registry itself doesn’t appear to be online so you’d have to contact them.
However, a horse at these auctions could have started out almost anywhere. Many of the kill buyers will bring a load from one auction to the next and run them through again. I’ve seen loads of camp horses from Mexico come through at New Holland. Especially if the brand appears hand drawn that could be a possibility. TB would also be unusual as a buggy horse… they are mostly Standardbred, Morgan, Saddlebred, DHH. Have you ever checked your horse’s upper lip for a tattoo?
Amish themselves do not brand their horses. If you see an Amish horse branded, it has come to them with the brand, and is usually Standardbred, with a freeze brand on the neck.
You can check brand registries via individual state. You could also do a Google search of the image to see if that pulls up anything.
These are driving horse terms so this horse might have simply had driving training somewhere that they were taught these.
