How to freeze mark your horse

Farmkey did my lads freezemark. Unfortunately it was so long ago I couldn't tell you a price, although I don't believe its expensive.

My lad had a haynet to munch when they did it, so he didn't even notice :)
 
It is nearly thirty years since I had a horse freezemarked and used Farmkey. There is plenty of info on Google.

Though it was fairly new at the time to freezemark horses, it didn't take long and wasn't expensive. It didn't hurt enough to need any local anaesthetic and none of the horses bothered much at the time (the whole yard was done)

My horse was a bit different to the others as she was grey (white) and so the hair had to be killed rather than just damaged to come through white. This meant she was left with pink skin which had to be kept clipped to show up. I don't know if the technique has changed since those days, but I would not have a grey done under the saddle again as there were problems over the years of rubbing in hard work and sunburn if she had no suncream on it. I ended up not clipping it and although you could tell she was marked, you couldn't tell what the numbers and letters were.

I look forward to others' experiences in the modern world, and is it still commonly done?
 
Yes, commonly done because it's known to be the biggest deterrent against theft. Farmkey or Freezemark do it. Shouldn't be too bad unless your horse is a grey. If a grey, I'd consider sedation. When my grey mare was done I had the vet come out and she was oblivious. A grey pony done at the same time was obviously finding it painful, they had to stop halfway through and return another day to complete the job with sedation. So I'd tend to be on the safe side with a grey.
 
Equinus - just a quick question (sorry OP), when you slip out the freezmarking, do you clip like a square or rectangle shape over it? Does it not get irritated by the saddle? The reason I ask, is that my lads isn't clear, and when I got Farmkey out to redo, they told me to clip it instead but I havent as I was worried it would rub etc. Thanks :)
 
Farmkey did mine, i chose the letters and numbers so cost a bit more but it was around £55/£60
If you can get others on your yard to be done at the same time you get a discount.
It took about 20 mins and my horse didn't flinch and carried on munching his hay so i don't think it hurt.
I had mine done on the saddle area so couldn't ride for just over a week so if you have it on the shoulder you can get back in the saddle quicker.
My insurance went down after having it done so make sure you let your insurance company know when you've had it done :)
 
russianhorse said:
Equinus - just a quick question (sorry OP), when you slip out the freezmarking, do you clip like a square or rectangle shape over it? Does it not get irritated by the saddle? The reason I ask, is that my lads isn't clear, and when I got Farmkey out to redo, they told me to clip it instead but I havent as I was worried it would rub etc. Thanks :)
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I used to clip a rectangle. But after strenuous exercise such as hunting or funride, she used to be quite sore with the numnah getting wet with sweat. I stopped clipping it but as I said, you could still tell she was marked. Always said if I ever had another grey I would have it done under the mane. (not that I would ever have another grey!):)
 
I had mine done a couple of years ago, both are greys.

I'd heard the horror story's of greys only being partially done, so as they were both microchipped anyway, I had the micro mark done on my mare (who I knew was more likely to tolerate the process), which is basically a single brand of a horse shoe, which indicates they're microchipped.

I knew my gelding would be a pain, so he was sedated by the vet and had the full 4 digit brand done.

They're both done on the shoulder, and I do clip a rectangle in winter to keep i visible.

Think it was around £100 for them both plus the vet for sedation, glad I had it done.
 
Suggest OP that if you have any concerns you contact either Freezemark or Farmkey direct, they're on-line, and ask whatever you need to.

I had my boy done with Farmkey and had a personalised brand, sorry can't remember how much it was but from recollection seem to remember I felt the price was reasonable and didn't send me into orbit! Plus the fact of having a very prominent symbol of ownership basically, and deterrant re. theft etc.

I think if you have the mark done on the saddle area there is a period of time where you're not able to ride; mine's a coloured and we managed to find a bit on his quarters where it was black, and did it there.

But think if you're worried, you deffo need more info from either of the two mentioned above; they should be happy to help.
 
We had Freezemark LTD out to do ours and they were brilliant. We were a bit worried at first because my horse is a complete wuss and scared of everything under the sun so thought he'd be a complete nightmare! Three of us were stood around him armed with carrots and expecting him to turn into a firebreathing dragon but he just stood there good as gold with his eyes half shut while the lady freezemarked him, don't think he even noticed! So can't have been too traumatic haha
The other horse was fine too, happily stood munching his haynet, we felt silly for worrying so much - they are dun & bay though, haven't seen a grey being freezemarked so couldn't comment on that.
The lady who did it was very good with the horses and very friendly too, highly recommend them. I think it was around £40 each, but if there are others at your yard then I think they do discounts. During the winter I clip rectangles so that the freezemarks can be seen easily and have never found them to get rubbed or irritated by the numnah, though you don't have to have them done on their backs, you can have them marked on their shoulder instead.
 
Monkey was freezemarked by Farmkey, cost £42 with BHS membership card. He just felt a little uncomfortable and shuffle his feet a bit. Nothing major, took about 10 minutes for 4 letters/numbers which could potentially deter thieves or help us find him if he went missing. Totally worth it imo :)
 
I had one of mine done many years ago. He freaked out though, not sure if it was sore or just the smokey stuff which comes off the marker thing that he didnt like! Either way, he moved too much which meant the freezemark can only 1/2 be seen... I cant read it lets say so it was a total waste of time! Wouldnt do it again. Looks horrid IMO.
 
I have used Freezmark many times over many years. They seem to be better and were operating before Farmkey set up. Just me, nothing else.

Most horses need the area to be clipped out during winter, more especially greys.
 
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