Re: Branding - why I did it

[Kim <kim@redhorsetech.com>]

On Mon, 3 May 1999 11:08:17 EDT, EAMULE@aol.com wrote:

> The Tennessee State Veterinarian said that branded horses are less likely to 
> be stolen and if they are they are more often found.
> 
> I hot branded Emily because a hot brand cannot be hidden.  If an animal has a 
> freeze brand all a thief has to do is cover it with the appropriate color of 
> shoe polish and that horse could be through a sale ring or slaughtered before 
> anyone would ever notice the brand.  People have covered state EIA brands in 
> that manner.
> 

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And... if I remember my ol' cattle days right (okay, it wasn't *that*
long ago), hot branding is also the only legal from of identification
for cattle.  Horses?  Don't know, but for the bovines freeze branding,
microchips (yeah, ranchers can afford those (sarcastic remark as
usual)), and other forms of ID are just too easy to conceal, or the
microchip reading technology is not in the hands of the brand
inspectors.  

Yes, you can run some poorly designed or simplistic hot brands.  But a
load of somewhat mature, freshly branded cattle is going to raise
eyebrows with many inspectors ;-).  A sharp eye would also raise an
eyebrow over a freshly branded horse going through auction as well.

The only maintenance factor after the brand has healed would be to maybe
clip the winter hair around the brand if your horse is a wooley-bag
during the cold season.  Otherwise, you may only see a distortion of
hair, and no brand --- which kinda defeats the purpose ;-).

Kim (who has hot-branded herself way to often --- yes, I'm a clutz, not
to quick on my feet, and still lived to tell about it!)


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