Branding - For and Against?

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MagicMelon

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One of my horses is branded, which I understand he had done as a youngster (a hot brand held against his thigh). I know a lot of pedigree horses have this done nowadays by their stud. But surely this is extremely painful?
 
I would think it probably is uncomfortable, but horses have a much higher pain threshold and thicker skin than we do, so it would not hurt them like it would hurt us. I don't know if they anaethetise (hmmm sp!) the area first as well - I would think they would do...
 
We have had horses branded at home before and done correctly there is no pain involved (well they didn't kick or go up in the air or show any sign of distress and I was holding them!). The person who done it was very experienced and knew how long to hold it on for and the correct pressure. A lot of studbooks abroad do not brand now which is a bit of a shame as it does give the horses identity but if done incorrectly and causes pain to horses then it is good that they no longer do it.
 
Is it done with heat? I always thought it was done the same as freezemarking. Well you live and learn.
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Freezemarking is different, it makes the hair grow back white so it shows up. Whereas a brand is basically just risen skin (no white hair). It just looks like it must have been sore!
 
I had a Hungarian warmblood import, and he had the most god awful brand on his neck - it would appear that it was done with a red hot poker type implement, and was written into his skin. Awful!

You could just about brush his neck and pull his mane, but if you tried to approach his neck with anything in your hand, he would get petrified, and would rear, probably as a result of the barbaric branding he had...
 
Many years ago I worked for a farmer on Dartmoor, he raised a lot of ponies on the moor and at drift time we'd bring them all down to the stockyards to sort them.
Fillies were driven into stocks (these ponies had never been touched) and branded with hot irons then butter was rubbed on the burn.

Let me tell you, branding stinks, burning hair and flesh, and it does get a reaction apart from the fact that there was a lot of noise and raised adrenalin, practically every pony I saw branded took a huge breath, leapt as far as it could go, kicked and gave what I can only describe in human terms as a scream. I would say for certain that they did feel it, although it would be impossible to tell how much pain it caused. Once released they all dived back to Mum for a drink and calmed down.

I believe Exmoors are still hot branded.

I imagine hot branding is done as an economical alternative to freeze branding, branding irons cost only the initial layout and to breeders it is like autographing your stock or showing that they have been graded.
 
have had/still have a couple of Newfies who have brands..i see nothing wrong with it at all.
 
Who says that horses have a thicker skin, a higher pain threshold and that branding is just 'uncomfortable'.?

Cows have a thick hide, horses don't, their skin is really sensitive., which is why they get so irritated when a fly lands on them. Pain....if you hurt a dog, for example, it will howl, scream or whimper, but horses don't have that sort of vocal range, if they did we wouldn't put horses through anything as awful as burning a red hot iron onto their flesh.
 
I saw the exmoor ponies being branded on Johny Kingdom (I love that TV show) and it didn't look as if it hurt them. However I'm still not very comfortable with the thought TBH... I don't really see how it could not be painful.

Interested to learn more from people with first hand experience though.
 
If it is done correctly then I have nothing against it. In fact I think it is an excellent way of identification. The hot irons are on and off the skin within seconds, unlike freeze marking when it is on for some considerable time.

Yes it obviously hurts for a few minutes, but I have seen several foal and mare brandings over the years and none of the horses have been worse for it, within around 5-10 minutes they are perfectly fine.

I know that Holland stoped branding horses but the breeders and breed societies were very much against this, and they tried their best to have the decision reversed, but their Government was not having it.

Other European breed registries still brand, as I seem to recall a real stink kicked up when Holland were going to ban any horses from competing on Dutch soil with a brand after a certain date! Although I think this never happened as the German registries were putting in injunctions.
 
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