Freezemarking: Who have you used and experiences?

Stella

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The rescue of the horses from Amersham has got me thinking about the situation of stolen horses. I haven't previously felt the need to have my mare freezemarked or micro-chipped because I didn't (and don't) think it would be much of a protection against being stolen. Like all people who care about horses though, I was distressed to hear about and read about the poor souls rescued and I wonder if some of them are stolen. I now realise that a stolen horse could be reunited with its owner more quickly and efficiantly with an obvious freezemark - more so than a microchip really since not everyone has the equipment to read one, but everyone can use a telephone to check on a mark.

I think I will use freezemark.biz rather than farmkey. I emailed both with a couple of queries. Farmkey responded by telling me that I could find the answers by going to their website. I was emailing them because I hadn't found the answers there!! Yet a woman called Mary, who seems to run freezemark.biz replied with an extremely helpful email answering my queries fully. It seems to be a smaller company than farmkey, but big enough to provide good aftercare service for those registered.

I'd be interested to know which company others have used and anything else about your experiences.
 

smirnoff_ice

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We used Farmkey. Just because they're the biggest & most experienced and successful.
We had no problems at all - ordered our own marks (eg. Dollys freezemark is 'D0LL'!) and the lady who did them was very good. The horses were all fine apart from Dolly who pranced around like a complete arse, but the lady was very patient with her.
Quite a few on the yard were done and they all worked...apart from 2 out of the 3 of ours! Molly and Mo both needed theirs re-done (free of charge obviously)!
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'Tis all good now though!
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Happy2Hack

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I used Farmkey. They were very good - the lady who did them was very patient - even when my gelding repeatedly squished her into the wall!
My mares mark needed doing again after about a year as for some reason it faded a bit after she moulted - the lady came back and re-marked her free of charge! It's been fine ever since
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Donkeymad

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Freezemark.biz - every time. They are the original Freezemarking company with more experience and , from what I have heard over the years, much better practices. (they are also cheaper, not that that swayed me in an way, they are just THE BEST!!)
 

the watcher

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Mary was with the first company to introduce freezemarking for horses, subsequently bought out and now trading as Farmkey. Mary has continued with Freezemark, therefore she has many years of experience and as you have discovered she is very helpful with a more personal touch.

Having been involved with Mary from the early days I have chosen to stay with her. the prices are about the same, and you can have personalised marks with freezemark.biz too.

Both companies are competent, and it largely comes down to personalities.
 

Gorgeous George

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I had George done with Farmkey and I wouldn't use them again, their admin and office are pretty terrible, got in a real muddle with times and made me wait ages. However the technician who came out was very good and patient, unfortunately George's mark didn't come out properly and it looked like it said 'sold'! They came out and re-did it free of charge for me.
 

Angua2

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would use freezemark every time...... used farm key for my second horse and well i now have to get the mark redone.....when freezemark did my first there was never a problem.
 

Stella

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[ QUOTE ]
Freezemark.biz - every time. They are the original Freezemarking company with more experience and , from what I have heard over the years, much better practices. (they are also cheaper, not that that swayed me in an way, they are just THE BEST!!)

[/ QUOTE ] Can you say more about the differences in practices? Here or by by pm!
 

chestnut cob

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Had mine done with Farmkey. Their office were a complete nightmare to deal with, never did anything on time, knew nothing about anything. They asked me when I wanted to book it for, so I gave them a list of the dates I COULDN'T do (two days out of a month!) and said any other dates were fine. So they then sent me a confirmation in the post, while I was on holiday, telling me they were coming the day after I got back, on one of the two days I said I couldn't make it!

Took ages to get it sorted but eventually a technician came out. The technician who did it was actually very good, really knowledgable and got it over and done with quickly. Wouldn't recommend them overall though
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Capriole

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ha, i had mine done with equestrian security services in the 80's, was impossible to contact them again and i think they are out of business now...
 
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Donkeymad

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Hi Stella. I have used Freezemark six times now, always got all paperwork correct, animals dealt with nicely and no problems with any marks. I have never actually used Farmkey but have read many many examples of bad marking, with so many needing to be re-done, becoming sore etc, have also heard one or two reports of not-so-nice treatment of horse and/or owner by operative. I have no proof of any of this so really you must make up your own mind. I do know though that Mary Awre of Freezemark.biz set up the first horse freezemarking company so has been doing this the longest, and that they have a 100% recovery rate, Farmkey is not so high, although goodness only knows the reason why.
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Obviously there are also many many happy customers of Farmkey
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Stella

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I wondered if, because Farmkey seem the most widely known company of the two, maybe they have now marked and registered more horses than Freezemark. If they have a larger sample, statistically they are likely to have a slightly lower recovery rate!
 

conniegirl

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i ve had 4 done by farmkey. I had no problems with the office except for a card payment that bounced (banks fault since they stopped the card without telling me or anyone else for that matter).
The technician was very very good with 3 of mine and beyond brilliant with the 4th, had no problems at all and the first 3 horses whilst slightly fidgety were good lads.
Unfortunately last pony stan was an absolute nightmare to do, he has always been a bit funny about things on his back (and god forbid that his saddle is even slightly not fitting or you have a crease in your numnah, he has absolute hysterics about that), i was rather impressed that she got the first letter on ok, the second number he started fidgeting and the 3rd number he reared and started fighting me, she managed to hold it on for the required time. She then gave him a bit of time to calm down and i shoved his head in a feed bucket to try and keep him calm for the 4th figure. Ive never known a horse react so violently to having a brand put on, and the technician said that she hadnt either. he lifted me off the ground and was strikeing out with his front legs, spinning and was not a happy lad. she managed to get it on, and the last figure was only slightly blurry (good thing it was a number 1). As soon as the lady left the stable and stan had his rug put on he was right as rain and munching his hay quite happily, i didnt ride him for a week because he is so funny about his back (he's not cold backed though). not had a problem with it at all, no soreness and no objections from stan. the lady was brilliant with him and she got squished more then a few times. She did say though that if the last letter needed redoing then it was not worth redoing with the stress it caused stan and the danger it put both me and her in. She said she would let the main office know so that if nessecary we could adjust thier records to show he only had 3 numbers, luckily it did work.
 

elsielouise

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I've used both and last week used freezemark. Had a need recently to contact Farmkey when trying to trace a horse and they were v helpful. I'd go with whoever can fit you in. I did also speak to Mary who was very helpful though apparently she tells people she helped start up Farm key and Farm key say she tells everyone that.

didn't matter to me. Oh and one big difference is you can choose a number for your horse with Freezemark if it hasn't been used already. Extra £20 or something.

I did that so one of mine now has its own personalised number plate. Easy to remember!
 

Stella

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[ QUOTE ]
I've used both and last week used freezemark. Had a need recently to contact Farmkey when trying to trace a horse and they were v helpful. I'd go with whoever can fit you in. I did also speak to Mary who was very helpful though apparently she tells people she helped start up Farm key and Farm key say she tells everyone that.

didn't matter to me. Oh and one big difference is you can choose a number for your horse with Freezemark if it hasn't been used already. Extra £20 or something.

I did that so one of mine now has its own personalised number plate. Easy to remember!

[/ QUOTE ] You can do that with Farmkey too! It costs £25 with them though, but they give £5 discount of any marking to members of NFU and BHS.
 
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