I haven’t been breeding in quite a while, just recycling them now.
I am planning a tattoo this spring of my own, with the lip tattoos of my “favorites” over the years.
My question is this, going to micro chipping are the horses going to be assigned #'s still? Or just their registration #s?
Trying to decide on how I’m going to incorporate others as the years go on.
From what I read the tattoos will be discontinued (I don’t remember when) and everything will be chipped. I would prefer a second form of ID like a freeze brand because microchips can easily be dug out by someone unscrupulous. And you won’t always have a chip reader handy either. I’m not sure if a freeze brand can be made to show up on white/grey/roaned/ticked horses or not. Maybe a tattoo there with black dye like they do on animals in spay/neuter clinics (except those are usually green, red, blue, etc.) I know they do put them on the light colored horses like grey BLM mustangs for instance, but they can be very hard to read.
1 Like
Tattoo numbers are the same as their registration numbers, just with the year replaced with a representative letter. So if they keep to the same registration number scheme, you would still be able to use their papers to determine what their tattoo would have been based on the current system, even if tattoos are discontinued. So I suppose you could use that…
Oddly,
I never realized that.
Thank you
The Micro Chips would require a talented surgeon and a LOT of anesthesia/blocks to be able to get deep enough to remove the chip. They’re NOT easy to remove from the area on the horse where they’re implanted. It’s not a small dog.
Em
4 Likes
Where are they implanted? Does it need stitches or does it leave a scar?
My warmbloods are chipped, and theirs were implanted in the middle of the near side of their neck just below the mane in the nuchal ligament. It did not leave a scar or require stitches.
The chip migrated in one of mine, and at first the vet could not find it to read it, so she chipped him again. So, his registration has two chip numbers, and sometimes we lovingly refer to him as “Two Chip” (which should really be my nickname when I ride over jumps). The point of this story is that the chips don’t always stay put where they should be, which can cause some challenges when reading them.
2 Likes
Inserted with a needle. Most places, put in the neck, but here in Canada, our CTHS wants them implanted in the nose. 😲 We will not. We put in the neck, and just have to make a note about it during the registration process.
To quote one of our vets…‘who the f*ck thinks putting a needle in a foal’s nose is a good idea?’
2 Likes
Having watched human surgeon’s hunt for something the size of a small screw, I pity anyone hoping to remove an implanted microchip.
Those properly placed in the nuchal ligament seldom migrate.
