Recent content by Matisse

I've seen plenty of hot brandings of Exmoor pony foals and as they are branded with up to seven marks, they are very definitely restrained, quite often by up to four people. Their heads are often tied tightly to a gate or ring and they are held against a hard surface or barrier of some kind...

Good to see this campaign covered in Horse & Hound magazine's news section today on page 12.

Yes, a single symbol used on the semi-feral foals returning to the moors after gathering would certainly be a massive welfare improvement from the current up to seven hot branded marks applied to them in three segments. Causing this many third degree burns to a forcibly restrained foal is...

Unfortunately, ponies have very sensitive ears and ear-tagging is extremely painful and makes them traumatised and head shy - and the tags can get ripped out. So the practice is illegal for equines. Collars can come off (they're losing 66% of them in the New Forest according to a recent report)...

The Petition to Stop The Multiple Hot Branding of Equines in England and Wales now has 12,200 signatures and has been well reported in the South West Regional press, as well as by the BBC. The All Party Parliamentary Group for the Horse met on Tuesday 26 June and the subject of multiple hot...

In just one week since it started, there have already been 7,600 signatures on the Stop Multiple Hot Branding of Equines in England and Wales petition! Thank you to everyone who has voted so far for your support in this important reform,which asks for all unnecessary hot branding to stop...

Thanks TwoStroke, MagicMelon, FranSurrey and AmyMay Rhino, you have a good point, but in this campaign, no one is hysterical or having a knee-jerk reaction. This is the result of many years of research and experience. And no claims are being made that can't be backed up. The people involved...

Thanks for your support :) The BBC Multiple Hot Branding of Exmoor Pony foals footage is now on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSqz4LMLtyo&feature=youtu.be http://youtu.be/cSqz4LMLtyo

No it's not. They can go into the pony up to three or four times, with red hot irons - one straight after the other. The total number of marks can number up to seven. See the above posts. Also, if they don't heat up the irons hot enough, so it doesn't burn in deeply enough, they part burn...

This BBC news footage shows the hot branding of a pony receiving SIX marks applied as follows with red hot irons: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-18439045 1 brand to the shoulder which is the Exmoor Pony Star 2 marks, branded together in one 'brand' to the shoulder which is the...

MuesliMoo - you're correct. It is up to 7 individual marks, applied in three to four brands. For example, the herd numbers are screwed onto an iron and branded together. It's all explained clearly above, as you've read. Rhino: There is plenty of research. You can read a lot of it here...

Pearlsasinger - you're right, it can be quite hard to read some of the brands, but even part of a brand can help a moorland farmer to identify an individual pony, which is why - in free-living situations, hot branding currently looks like the only option. Pip6 - you're also quite right. But...

It was the wrong link above: LINK TO PETITION TO Stop The Multiple Hot Branding of Equines in England and Wales is here: PETITION http://www.change.org/petitions/defragovuk-stop-the-hot-branding-of-equines-in-england-and-wales

This information (below) appeared on another forum and might help you to understand what happens. Some people seem to be rather keen to muddy the waters surrounding these hard facts. A lot of people have already signed the petition to STOP the Hot Branding of Equines in England and Wales...

Where a herd number runs into three digits and pony numbers run into three digits (particularly with some of the moorland herds), there can be 7 marks applied to an Exmoor pony foal, when the star is included. These are applied in three separate hot brands, or four if an 'H' is used. The brands...