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 Expert
Posts: 1525
  
| ropenrun - 2015-10-15 1:31 PM BARRELHORSE USA - 2015-10-15 2:44 AM I think too many people associate branding their horses with the human body tattoo craze everyone seems to do ... If your horse is worth anything the thief will take it out of state and your brand means nothing because it is now untraceable .... AQHA allows non race track horses to get lip tattoos with a different number/letter sequence than track tattoos .... this is traceable .. I find it interesting that people can't wait to conjure up some goofy looking brand that has no meaning and haven't taken the time to take 5 good clear conformation shots of your naked horse to distribute if horse comes up missing ... heck most people can't even remember their horses registered name ... lol .. If I buy an unbranded horse of any age from you and it shows up freshly branded ... it will not get off the trailer at my barn and you will be told to return my money ... and keep your horse.. Even with well known brands ... all it means to me is that you bought one of their rejects and they kept the good ones ... lol This makes me laugh a little, well alot really! I can tell you stories of many, many, many horses that my husband, as a livestock investigator, has recovered that were lost or stolen, and recovered quickly because of the brand. Horses that people never expected to ever see again but were very happy to know they would be getting them back. Horses that were moved several states away and were found at horse auctions, at a slaughter feedlot, almost ready to go down the alley to the kill floor of a slaughter facility, turned out in someone's pasture, in a bucking horse string, in a pack string, in someone's broodmare band, in the rodeo arena or found in random highway truck stops and by that I don't mean truck stop-gas station, I mean being pulled over and having your horse papers checked.
Because of that brand (or return address) on their thigh, jaw, shoulder, neck, or butt cheek they were more easily identifiable. If a solid bay horse is stolen it can be just that...a bay horse with no identifiable markings or distinguishing characteristics and it is easier to slide right by someone. A tattoo is helpful but not recognized as an identifiable marking in a brand state and is not checked. If someone is running a group of loose horses through a sales ring, the yard company doesn't mouth them all and check for a tattoo but they dang sure spot a brand right away. Taking conformation shots is also helpful but conformation changes with age and photos become outdated. Microchipping is the same deal and there are many kinds of chip readers so one machine does not read all the different kinds of chips.
It is also a great means of advertising. Ttake a look at Lisa Lockhart's Louie with the B Bar Heart brand. That brand being seen all over the country on a top horse like that has been very good advertising for the Bagnell family. I'd take that REJECT in my barn any day. And a good breeder does sell the good ones or they wouldn't continue to be in business.
I appreciate the fact I live in a brand state with strict brand laws and a great tracking system for the recovery of lost and stolen livestock.
My brand will be on anything I sell from now on. I am SICK TO DEATH of people taking credit for my training down the line. Selling is how trainers make their money...period. A lot of people work really hard to make their brand a symbol that people think of as "nice horses"....if I throw a brand on something I can assure you it is not junk. I dont want junk representing my barn.
Edited by MOTIVATED 2015-10-15 4:55 PM
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Regular
Posts: 55
| An old tale I have heard is that horse brands go on the left side so when you are getting mounted you can see who's horse you are riding. Cattle brands on the right so when you are roping in the branding pen the cattle circle that direction you can see which ones have been branded.
Sounds logical to me. | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1034
| ropenrun - 2015-10-15 1:31 PM
BARRELHORSE USA - 2015-10-15 2:44 AM I think too many people associate branding their horses with the human body tattoo craze everyone seems to do ... If your horse is worth anything the thief will take it out of state and your brand means nothing because it is now untraceable .... AQHA allows non race track horses to get lip tattoos with a different number/letter sequence than track tattoos .... this is traceable .. I find it interesting that people can't wait to conjure up some goofy looking brand that has no meaning and haven't taken the time to take 5 good clear conformation shots of your naked horse to distribute if horse comes up missing ... heck most people can't even remember their horses registered name ... lol .. If I buy an unbranded horse of any age from you and it shows up freshly branded ... it will not get off the trailer at my barn and you will be told to return my money ... and keep your horse.. Even with well known brands ... all it means to me is that you bought one of their rejects and they kept the good ones ... lol
This makes me laugh a little, well alot really! Â I can tell you stories of many, many, many horses that my husband, as a livestock investigator, has recovered that were lost or stolen, and recovered quickly because of the brand. Â Horses that people never expected to ever see again but were very happy to know they would be getting them back. Â Horses that were moved several states away and were found at horse auctions, at a slaughter feedlot, almost ready to go down the alley to the kill floor of a slaughter facility, turned out in someone's pasture, in a bucking horse string, in a pack string, in someone's broodmare band, in the rodeo arena or found in random highway truck stops and by that I don't mean truck stop-gas station, I mean being pulled over and having your horse papers checked.
Because of that brand (or return address) on their thigh, jaw, shoulder, neck, or butt cheek they were more easily identifiable.  If a solid bay horse is stolen it can be just that...a bay horse with no identifiable markings or distinguishing characteristics and it is easier to slide right by someone. A tattoo is helpful but not recognized as an identifiable marking in a brand state and is not checked.  If someone is running a group of loose horses through a sales ring, the yard company doesn't mouth them all and check for a tattoo but they dang sure spot a brand right away.  Taking conformation shots is also helpful but conformation changes with age and photos become outdated.  Microchipping is the same deal and there are many kinds of chip readers so one machine does not read all the different kinds of chips.
 It is also a great means of advertising. Ttake a look at Lisa Lockhart's Louie with the B Bar Heart brand.  That brand being seen all over the country on a top horse like that has been very good advertising for the Bagnell family.  I'd take that REJECT in my barn any day.  And a good breeder does sell the good ones or they wouldn't continue to be in business. Â
I appreciate the fact I live in a brand state with strict brand laws and a great tracking system for the recovery of lost and stolen livestock.
I can affirm this. My mother in law retired after 25+ years as a brand inspector. Branding - and keeping your brand registered - is key to getting your horses or cattle returned after a theft. | |
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  The Color Specialist
Posts: 7530
 
Location: Washington. (The DRY side.) | ampratt - 2015-10-15 5:16 AM I know this wasn't the question but I prefer a lip tattoo to a brand. We used to freeze brand ours on the left hip but through the years we stopped. I decided I really don't like the brand marring up my horse's look, so now we do the tattoo. We don't have a large herd, just a handful and this is just a personal perference, not putting down anyone who does brand.
The problem with this is that a tattoo is NOT a deterant (sp) to thieves. A thief has NO way of knowing a horse is tattooed. Not that it would matter, as I have NEVER seen the BRAND inspector at a horse sale check for a tattoo. A tattooed horse can easily be stolen and run thru a sale and no one would ever know it even HAD a tattoo.
To answer the OP's question. I prefer left SHOULDER. If it HAS to be on the hip, I still prefer the left. (DO you REALLY mean "hip" as in high on the butt, or do you mean thigh? (Lower on the hind end?)
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 429
Location: Oxford, Kansas | This is exactly why I invested into having a brand made and getting it registered!! My two good horses are pure black and white... no distinguishing markings on either of them. I am terrified of something happening and there would be no way to trace them back to me.
Edited by ksbarrelchick 2015-10-16 10:36 AM
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 429
Location: Oxford, Kansas | RacingQH - 2015-10-16 10:25 AM ampratt - 2015-10-15 5:16 AM I know this wasn't the question but I prefer a lip tattoo to a brand. We used to freeze brand ours on the left hip but through the years we stopped. I decided I really don't like the brand marring up my horse's look, so now we do the tattoo. We don't have a large herd, just a handful and this is just a personal perference, not putting down anyone who does brand. The problem with this is that a tattoo is NOT a deterant (sp) to thieves. A thief has NO way of knowing a horse is tattooed. Not that it would matter, as I have NEVER seen the BRAND inspector at a horse sale check for a tattoo. A tattooed horse can easily be stolen and run thru a sale and no one would ever know it even HAD a tattoo.
To answer the OP's question. I prefer left SHOULDER. If it HAS to be on the hip, I still prefer the left. (DO you REALLY mean "hip" as in high on the butt, or do you mean thigh? (Lower on the hind end?)
Sorry, I meant thigh (right above the hind leg area) | |
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Location: Midwest | Left thigh or left shoulder for me | |
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