Freezemarking, yay or nay?

LaurenBay

LaurenBay

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I asked the other day but didn't get any replies. So thought i'd try again.

Who here has their Horses freezemarked? did you get it done yourself? or did they come to you like it? who did you use? where is the mark? I can't see any reasons for not getting it done, other then the fact they don't look brilliant :o

I am toying with the idea of getting Ruby done, after having a couple of scares. It would put my mind at rest. It will go under her saddle area and I have chosen a personlised mark (they have it as I checked with the nice lady from Farmkey)

Thing is I don't know anyone who has their Horses done, I don't know what the procedure is, I don't know if it will go agains't me at shows (Only shows I will go too is local shows, nothing big)

So opinions good and bad please :)
 
You can see Buddy's here; his is 8UDZ :) I love it, I had his done when I first got him. Would always have my horses freezemarked, no reason not to imo. It doesn't look bad, but obviously I am biased lol

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Every horse I have ever owned has been freeze marked by me. The three I have now are all done as well as been micro chipped.

I feel more secure in the knowledge that the visual deterrent of the freeze mark is likely to put potential thieves off more than the chip itself. At the end of the day, nothing is 100% secure but freeze marking goes a long way to giving me some peace of mind.

How many auctions do you go to and see someone scanning them for see if they are stolen.....none I'd say sadly. But a freeze mark is visible to all. I wouldn't hesitate!
 
Mine are microchipped..I refuse to graffiti them..no problem with others who do freezemark at all. Just not for my horses.
 
Yup, all mine have been freezemarked by Farmkey. On the flank area. Never under the saddle as wouldn't want to compromise that area of skin where tack and weight goes.
 
LaurenBay said:
Thank you CobsGalore :) answered a lot of questions. Think its swayed my mind to have it done.
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No problem. I think I probably will get it done too, just for piece of mind.

My boy is black though, and I do worry it's just gonna be way too noticeable, or go wrong or something.

But at the end of the day as cblover says, you don't see people scanning for chips at auctions do you
 
My horse is a lightweight tb who feels cold easily. He is in a rug for probably 3/4 of the year and sometimes a fly rug in summer if he has a reaction to fly bites. Any thieves woulnt know he was freeze marked until he was already stolen!
 
One is he's a LOU horse it's under the saddle and causes no problem at all .
I would never do it by choice I loath the look of it and would probally not buy a horse freeze marked anywhere esle but under the saddle.
If I had coloured cobs I might reconsider it but I don't .
I have them all microchipped.
 
Mine are freeze marked and mare is also microchipped.

I don't see it as graffiti at all. After a couple of weeks you don't even ' see' it any more, you get used to it so quickly.

I couldn't bear the idea of not having done everything I can to protect my horses from being stolen and potentially mistreated and scared.

Horses barely noticed either chipping or freeze marking being done (much less than having their regular teeth appointments for eg), both are under the saddle and neither had any reaction even tho one is pale skinned and quite prone to reactions to things.

I would say go ahead and get it done, the minute it is you will be so pleased you did.
 
I think I will go ahead with it. Afterall if I don't and she does go missing, I will never forgive myself, I don't want to spend the rest of my life thinking "what if she were freezemarked?" She isn't a cob, but is coloured. We had to tighten up security over the last couple of weeks as someone from a certain commuinuty saw me leaving the yard and kept commenting on how nice she was, they then stopped and watched me. It was reported to the police.

But for the first few days, I couldn't sleep, I went up dreading walking to the field in case she wasn't in there. Freezemarking will just put my mind at rest a lot more I think.

Will book with Farmkey :)
 
My boy was freezemarked when I got him. It didn't put me off at all.

I put the freezemark number on his turnout rugs, so that it is visible, most people know what a freezemark looks like and will associate that with the markings on the rug, so it's very visible. Also I have a sign up to say he is freezemarked.

Personally, I would get any horse of mine done.
 
I really don't notice freezemarks on horses, I don't think it will make a difference to local showing.

Mine is microchipped and was also hot branded (not something I would choose to have done. It's a haflinger thing). Otherwise I would have her freezemarked and if a coloured cob mare I would definitely do it.
 
I'm getting my boy done along with a couple of others at my yard. My reason is that a freezemark is noticable and more of a deterrent than an invisible microchip.
 
Tarbs said:
I'm getting my boy done along with a couple of others at my yard. My reason is that a freezemark is noticable and more of a deterrent than an invisible microchip.
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I don't deny it's a deterrent but the turth is stealing the type of horses I have from the type of location I live in is rarer than plane crashes apart from in ownership disputes where a freeze mark would not help anyway . if I where OP I would freeze mark under the saddle because of the experiance she has had , there's no doult in my mind colored horses seem to stolen most.
 
Always have mine done. You can't see a microchip. One of mine is micromarked as there isn't enough black on his neck or saddle area and I don't like it. Doesn't look as much of a deterrent as a numbered freezemark and I'm sure some people wouldn't recognise it for what it is. I have tried to get Farmkey back to re-do as a proper fm but the lady never returns my calls!

Our area is hardly plagued by theft but I am not going to risk it for the sake of 50 quid and a few small marks on my horses.
 
Goldenstar said:
I don't deny it's a deterrent but the turth is stealing the type of horses I have from the type of location I live in is rarer than plane crashes apart from in ownership disputes where a freeze mark would not help anyway . if I where OP I would freeze mark under the saddle because of the experiance she has had , there's no doult in my mind colored horses seem to stolen most.
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That's why I'm getting mine done - he's a gypsy cob!
 
Statistics show that in the event of a freeze marked horse being stolen that the chances of it being recovered are far greater than one that is not freeze marked. I would always advise anyone having a freezemark done to have it on a part of the horses body where it is visible while the horse is being ridden.

Morse importantly freeze marking can be seen and read by anyone - even if they know nothing about horses.

Micro-chipping is in my opinion a total waste of time as in many cases the micro-chip is not detected by the scanner. There are at least 7 different micro-chipping systems and the scanner of one will not detect all the others. You also have to catch the horse first to micro-chip it.

Unfortunately we are seeing more and more non-coloured, non-cob type of horses being stolen so do not make an assumption that thefts of horses are restricted to a specific type.

Horses have been stolen from all sorts of different locations so again to not assume that your horses location is a safe location. The theft of a horse can occur from any location.

The theft of a horse is very traumatic for the owner and family of the horse so my advice would be to always have a horse freeze marked.
 
Bo's branded and microchipped. GK isn't branded but is microchipped.

The vast majority of TB's are branded on the track. And I am pretty sure that in order to be registered with the show horse council and equestrian WA a horse has to be branded, although they are reviewing the rules to allow microchipping as an alternative.

Branded horses are really common over here.
 
I'm not keen on it personally but we are looking for a new ned for my sister and a few of the contenders are freeze marked. Does anyone know if showing judges view this negatively? Just curious.
 
Lachlanandmarcus..sorry can't quote as on phone but I see it as graffiti I made it clear I dont speakfor everyone, but not on my horses. Actually I can't remember the last time I saw a dressage horse or showjumper with one.
 
kal40 said:
I'm not keen on it personally but we are looking for a new ned for my sister and a few of the contenders are freeze marked. Does anyone know if showing judges view this negatively? Just curious.
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Apparently they dont but I guess its like everything - everyone has their opinion. but I have heard enough comments from showing people to wonder whether it does have a negative effect

My light grey pony is freemarked on his shoulder and it looks awful, pink with a strange partial black edging but I guess its there for a reason. I'm not sure I would be in a huge hurry to get the other grey done though!

If you do have a freemarked horse that was not marked in your care remember to send off the transfer form to the freezemarking company!
 
I have always had my horses Freemarked.
From my experience it never effects them in the show ring. I have competed at RIHS and HOYS with success :D
 
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