I just want to hear some opinion because I’m kinda on the fence:confused: On one hand its would be nice to own a branded warmblood, its kinda the final step after you have filled out all the paper work and survived inspection day :lol: On the other hand do I want to be responsible for permanently scaring my horse? I know its not suppose to hurt and all. What do you thinK? Does it depend for you what the brand looks like or what registry? I know there is some people who would never have their horse branded American Warmblood because of all the Threads I’ve read(I don’t want to get everyone started on that again:lol:) Whats your opinion on RPSI, half trak…or any other ones would you bother?
I have a Oldenburg NA weanling. I just got him branded in October. Did I have to? No. Did it hurt him? Probably for a second.
It is a total preference thing. If I didn’t have to get him branded to get his papers, I wouldn’t have done it, but it is all up to you!
My colt jumped once after the branding and has never looked back. I don’t think it is that much of a trauma.
I enjoyed the inspection experience and it is nice to see what other people are breeding.
I will eventually show my horse in the Hunter breeding and hunter classes and he didn’t have to have that brand, but it doesn’t bother me. Some people told me not to brand him because I want to show in the hunter breeding. I have seen a lot of horses branded in the HB, so I made the choice to brand him so he could have papers.
just FYI, I saw my very first branding a few months ago. Everyone had said it didn’t seem the bother the horses, blah blah blah. I figure, take everything on the internet with a salt block! 
The stunning colt I saw branded AHA did not even flinch, whimper or seem to notice. I think that branding is not right for everyone, but when I see a wb- branded horse (and some ranch brands too), I know that someone is proud of what they’ve produced, and I’m looking at a reasonably quality animal. Particularly if that animal falls on hard times - people recognize brands whereas they may not recognize that starving horse X who looks like crap is actually a nice horse.
I like the branding idea, just because as breeders, when we see a nice horse, we always check for a brand and ask about the lineage.
It does not seem to hurt them for more than a couple minutes (we forget their skin is not like ours) and it seems to ad some prestige in most people’s eyes! 
I have been breeding Oldenburgs for 4 years and I was really freaked out when my first colt was branded. But…it really doesn’t seem to bother him or the others I saw branded, but for a second and the brand heals well all on its own. Since then, I have had 6 foals branded and it really doesn’t bother me anymore. To tell you the truth, on a lot of them, you can barely see the brand after a year or two anyway. I
I agree with Sniplover…I like to see the brand if I’am looking at buying. Only because they did well at a inspection and the breeding is there. (I know not all are branded…just something I look for.:winkgrin:)
It’s funny as some see a brand as someone labeling a product they are proud of and I see it as a disfigurement. I guess we all think differently. My only issue with most of the WB brands I’ve seen is that they are so faint and hard to read you can’t tell what they are anyway.
Our WB foals are branded because we are proud of what we are producing ;). It really doesn’t seem to bother them a whole lot more than a sharp nip from Mom.
I also regard them as scars/blemishes-- especially on a really good butt. I’ve brought 2 horses to WB inspections. Both qualified for branding, but I brought my horses (and their awards) home before the burning started.
I’m proud of what I’m producing, too-- and it isn’t brands.
I have a very nicely bred mare whose bloodlines may have been lost forever if she had not had a brand. When she was inspected in Germany they put a “42” above her brand. I have heard many different explanations about why they put numbers there… but regardless of the reason, the number helped to identify her (or confirm her identity, because this number was also on the copy of her original papers) and she was accepted back into the European registries. BTW- This mare is not young, and her brand is perfectly readable, even when she has a full coat.
Its a concern that the foals that are produced with care could fall on hard times and get lost in the shuffle. I think that its important to give them a gift that will go with them for the rest of their lives. A moment of pain for a lifetime of chances to be saved. Can’t you just picture some skinny gelding that somehow ended up at an auction somewhere, surprising someone by having a brand? I imagine frantic phone calls being made to reach the appropriate person who will come rescue this Hann, Trek, Old, etc. from the auction. :winkgrin:
I much prefer to have mine micro chipped. It is easier to permanently track them and I heard that they need it for an FEI passport too. So one stop shopping. I do not really like branding either even though the one filly I did get done did not really seem to react much.
I really like branding. It makes it much more exciting at shows, seeing a gorgeous horse and seeing that brand on the hip, then playing the guessing game on the horse’s bloodlines
Although I did not have my Welsh stallion branded when he was approved NASPR. I feel that although that registry has approved him, he is a Welsh, therefor, it wouldn’t make sense to brand him with the NASPR brand. But I beleive foals should be branded.
I am on the fence too. I chose not to get Frodo branded and I have never seen a horse get branded. I am kind of bothered by the lip tat on my TB mare and the ear tats on my greyhound. Maybe it hurts, maybe it doesn’t. I am proud of what I produced too and I wear the Trakehner logo on my saddle pad or anything else I can find. I know he’s a Trakehner and if someone else wants to know what he is, they can ask.
1 Like
Can tell you one thing - If there is one thing my filly holds against me, it is not getting branded (no reaction at all). She was thoroughly unimpressed with the microchipping though. Given some differing opinions on whether this has a potential to create future problems, I’d think twice about doing this again…
Thanks guys all great opinions! What do you think about having an older horse (like a 3-4 or older) getting inspected and branded? I was also wondering about having one of my horses inspected and branded with the RPSI but some of the threads have made it seem like its no better then the American Warmblood? I not saying I think the American Warmblood is bad I really don’t want to start that again but I don’t want people looking at the brand and thinking she is inferior to say there Hann or Trak?
Horses generally get branded at inspections whether they did well or not. It is about their parents approval and nothing to do with if they are a good result of the cross.
It is a designer label, but since almost all of the Warmblood bloodlines are jumbled together, it won’t tell you anything of what the horse is other than Warmblood, or a Warmblood cross
The Dutch and Oldenburgs (in the us) don’t brand at all.
For the foals, it is an instant of pain, BUT Branding can go really, REALLY bad. At one inspection I saw 5 out of 6 brands messed up - half images, doubled, smeared down the flank :eek: It WAS a European Warmblood registry.
Many buyers don’t like brands
Most brands are hard to see once healed
EVERYONE has their favorite brands, and the rest they look down upon. I know Trakehner people that look down on Hanoverians, and the opposite is also true. :lol:
[QUOTE=Fairview Horse Center;3658170]
I know Trakehner people that look down on Hanoverians, and the opposite is also true. :lol:[/QUOTE]
I don’t look down on the Hanno, shoot, many of them are half Trakehner themselves. I do TRY not to look down on any breed, there are some that are better suited for dressage but they are all horses and I love horses.
Ah heck, what can I say, with the superiority of the Trakehner, what breed would NOT want Trakehner in their bloodlines. :lol: KIDDING!!!
Do a search. I was asking this same question in August, before our first Hano inspection and branding. My mom and I were horrified that it may cause distress and vowed that it would not be done again if it did.
It was a TOTAL non event, and I mean that in the most serious way possible. The foals really react more to a bug bite. I know it is hard to believe but I swear that is the truth!
I am still on the fence about it myself. I haven’t had any of mine branded, I’m a chicken.
My horse got inspected by the Dutch registry this fall, at 8 years of age. She passed and I decided to get her branded, mostly because I fell off her the weekend before and I was mad. :lol: I kid, of course - I wanted to use it as security in case she and I ever (God forbid) get separated or she falls on hard times.
Since she is a total drama llama about everything (including tarps, plastic baggies, a slight tap with a crop, and God help us if there’s water anywhere . . .) she was obviously the worst-behaved horse for the branding. The other mares that went before her were excellently mannered and didn’t seem to bat an eye. She leapt ten feet in the air, kicked at the branding guy, and tried to flee back to the trailer before realizing that I was still holding her reins. This was after he had finished branding her, by the way - he was already walking away when this little tantrum went down. She played gimpy the rest of the way back but was miraculously healed upon turnout after we got home. :rolleyes: Like I said, drama llama.
The brand healed on its own just fine and is now visible even with her winter coat.
