[QUOTE=Calamber;6970460]
I do not know how the trotting industry works (that is if it is so centralized that the use of tattoos and or freezebrands) was completely phased out in the whole country. There is a standardbred mare that I saw here recently who was reported to be, I think 19 years old, she had both a lip tattoo and a freezebrand. Is it possible the horse is that old? But instead of all of the best guesses, maybe one should check with the USTA to get that answer first, then if you can read the lip tattoo, certainly run that. In no way does it mean that the halter and the horse would match, nor does it mean the two horses so called crossed paths. The halter could have been bought in a lot at an auction and was just used because, or about a couple of dozen other reasons. I would not be surprised if the horse came from a different part of the US than the halter either. I have seen stranger things, including a so called registered TB gelding without tattoo wearing a mare’s halter, neither of the folks involved with that one knew enough to even look up the JC information on the halter.
Also, freeze brands notoriously fade about as much as the lip tattoos. If done incorrectly or even a minor error it can be nearly invisible. Can you safely shave the neck yet? Both sides if you really want to be sure.[/QUOTE]
In the US and Canada, only freeze brands are used now for the registration number (it has been more than 10 years since tattoos were entirely phased out). They are done at time of registration, as opposed to TBs where the tattoo is typically not applied until the horse is almost ready to race. On an older horse, it is certainly possible for them to have both tattoo and freeze brand if the breeder or owner chose to have both applied, especially if they were racing during the period of changeover to freeze branding. It is also common on older horses to see the registration number as the tattoo and for the horse to have an additional farm freeze brand (Not necessarily the reg number, although it could be - but usually it was one to three characters, sometimes just numbers, sometimes a combination of letters and numbers. I have seen them on either side of the neck and also on the sternum.)
I have never seen a freeze brand fade. I have seen ones that were poorly applied to begin with, and therefore difficult to read. They also can become illegible or nearly invisible if the horse has winter hair, but a quick clip job makes them readable again.
OP really has a few prospects here - either horse is an older Standardbred (at least over 10, probably older) with a tattoo, horse has a freeze brand hidden in the winter hair, horse is a different breed with a tattoo (TB, racing QH/appendix, racing Arabian). In any case, reading the tattoo is what will bring the answer. The halter could have come from anywhere.
