freeze marking greys/spotty appaloosas???

[prettypony95]

I'd like to have my boy freeze marked just for the peace of mind, because all of these horse thefts going on but he's spotted and there is no part of him that is a darkish colour, apart from his legs which are light chestnut :/
Has anyone with a spotty horse had them freeze marked??

Any help is much appreciated!

 

[Auslander]

I'd like to have my boy freeze marked just for the peace of mind, because all of these horse thefts going on but he's spotted and there is no part of him that is a darkish colour, apart from his legs which are light chestnut :/
Has anyone with a spotty horse had them freeze marked??

Any help is much appreciated!

Hi,

When grey/light coloured horses are freeze marked, they hold the iron against their skin a little longer, so that the hair follicles are killed completely. The resulting mark has no hair, rather than white hair.

 

[prettypony95]

thanks for that but is it noticeable? to deter thieves etc?

 

[BlackRider]

Yes- it is noticeable, however, in winter I regularly clip the freeze mark to make it visable, as the longer winter coat does cover it up.

 

[prettypony95]

great, thank you

 

[classicalfan]

Why not microchip. It is less painful than freeze marking. We used to put a sign up 'All horses are microchipped'.

 

[prettypony95]

he's already microchipped thanks

 

[Suziq77]

We used to freeze mark greys once their showing careers were over (after Farmkey changed their rules so you couldn't freezemark by killing follicles in the saddle area) as we were restricted to shoulder markings. Now in the days of microchips that's what I do for all of mine whatever the colour.

 

[Tinypony]

I'd suggest giving your horse the benefit of sedation. It hurts a bit more because they have to hold the irons on for longer. When my grey mare was done I had her sedated. A small grey pony at the same yard was done at the same time without sedation and they had to stop. Luckily my vet was still there so he gave the little fella a jab so that they could finish.

 

[BlackRider]

My horses where both already microchipped, but I feel the freeze mark gives a visible deterrent.

I had my mare done with the horse shoe mark which indicated that she is mircochipped - as I had a reasonable perception that she'd tolerate a single brand without the need of sedation. As I'd also heard about grey's suffering discomfort as the process went on, and this worked fine.

I was fairly sure my gelding wouldn't tolerate the single brand, so got the vet to sedate him, and he had the full 4 digit freeze brand done.

 

[Puppy]

I'd suggest giving your horse the benefit of sedation. It hurts a bit more because they have to hold the irons on for longer. When my grey mare was done I had her sedated. A small grey pony at the same yard was done at the same time without sedation and they had to stop. Luckily my vet was still there so he gave the little fella a jab so that they could finish.

Really? My grey girl didn't even blink at being done.

You can't really see hers, especially not at this time of year when she's got her winter coat and muddy so I think it's a bit pointless, but the insurance co. insist on a brand for the LOU claim.

 

[silverghost]

Shouldn't matter if u show or not, I have a piebald & had him freeze marked on his shoulder so more visible. Never affected him in the ring & he's been to RIHS more than once.

 

[Sportyspots]

Sorry cant quote as on phone but same as ApacheWarlord, I've had the microchipped horseshoe freeze marked onto a spot.