Microchipping. Your experiences ?

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POLLDARK

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Hi Everyone. i was considering microchipping my young horse & so picked up a magazine with an article about it. To my suprise the chip is put in a ligament in the neck (not just under the skin as in dogs etc) & it was thought this was causing a variety of problems, nerve damage, abcess' ,scarring on the ligament etc. The siteing of the chip is to stop it travelling but if it is causing a problem perhaps the end of the dock might be a good idea ?. Any experiences you may have had may be worth sharing or thoughts on the subject. Thanks
 
I had my last mare microchipped and my current horse. No problems at all. I wouldnt hesitate about getting any horses done in the future.
 
My sister and I had ours chipped a couple of years ago - I wasn't going to have mine doen (he's 20 now) but kind of thought, seeing as it didn't cost much really it'd be beneficial in case he ever did go missing. Not had any problems and the horses didn't react at all having them done. The youngster i bought last year is chipped and I can't say i could see he's had any abscesses or issues where the chip will be.
 
My spotty filly (in sig) is done, and it was hard work! The Vet gave her a local first to numb the area, as the chipping needle is pretty big. Suffice to say she wasn't over keen on having a second jab, and she's been difficult to inject since then too. Didn't have any problems with the actual chip though - I assume it hasn't moved, but she hasn't been scanned since the date of implant.
 
Spot the risk - Your experience is exactly why Ive never bothered with the local (even though my colleagues mostly did). Never had any horse over react to the job either - about half of them jump a little. But i just put it in,let go, give them 30seconds to settle again and then depress the plunger and remove the needle. Even those who are funny about vaccines beforehand have been fine this way and no negative effects either- have yet to meet a horse that is needle-shy afterwards. Any abscess found after microchipping says that the technique was unsterile, the microchip poorly packaged or the horse's coat extremely dirty (this part is the owners responsibility) - thse should be very very rare. Less sommon that a vaccine abscess.
 
Ours didn't react at all and the vet didn't numb the area to start with. Judt did the job, quickly and quietly - they didn't even blooming notice! Mind you I think he's a great vet and horses are very calm in his presence anyway. I suppose if a vet wasn't overly confident round horses or faffs about too much they can pick up on this and that's what causes them to be more worried.
 
Seen lots of youngsters done one after another, no problems, no fussing - just straight in. None of them seemed traumatised or even particularly hurt - just a bit taken aback. Then they went back to eating their hay.:)
 
My horse is microchipped and there has been hassle at all.
My previous horse was microchipped and his neck was a little sensitive for a few days afterwards but had no problems since then.
 
If you are worried about your horse being stolen then get your horse freezemarked as anyone can see and read a freezemark. Also make sure that you regularly (Summer and Winter) take photos of all four sides of your horse so that if it goes missing you have pictures of your horse.
The down-side of micro-chipping is that there are about 7 different systems some readers of which will not identify or read some of the micro-chips.
 
I had both of my youngsters microchipped. The yearling was done while he was conked out for being gelded. His 2yo sister, she was no problem at all when it was done, but soon after she rubbed out a patch of mane sort of in line with where the chip went in so I guess it was irritating her. She has also developed a small patch of white hair like a thumbprint in the area where the chip went in. The hair didn't fall out and grow back white, it just turned white. I have never seen this happen before :confused:
 
Just to add - the chip has to go into the nuchal ligament by law, this should be the same across the EU:)
 
I've never heard of anyone having problems such as that with microchipping.

Mine were done and were fine, didn't even flinch. I always have my pets mircrochipped just in case anyway. x
 
2 of mine are freezemarked for the visual deterrant reason....the other is microchipped because a) he is a total wuss b)he is graying out rapidly and my previous gray I had done- well, you just couldnt see it was there and c) I just got him chipped whilst he was having his jabs to have 'something' in place.

He was fine, even for a big girls blouse.
 
My cob was fine a little hard lump etc but no problems

Another the vet missed the horse ended up being twitched and it was just awful...I was shocked at how big the needle was and TBH the horse mistrusted me for a long time. In fact I dont think he ever got over it. We did it when we first got him. But I was very unlucky and had one very embarrassed vet.(who is very good by the way usually)!

I prefer freezemarking for visibility and deterrent but I think chip is a lot easier to have done!
 
I went with my boss to her foal's grading and he had tail hairs pulled out, a microchip stuck in and a brand on his thigh all within 2 minutes. He had no idea what was coming and wasn't bothered by any of it. His old pony companion I was holding next to him was much more perturbed and made a swift exit!
 
Thanks for replying, none of you seem to have scare stories which is reassuring. I must admit the magazine article had horror stories & has made me wary. Do all Vets inject into the muchal ligament does anyone know.
 
POLLDARK said:
Hi Everyone. i was considering microchipping my young horse & so picked up a magazine with an article about it. To my suprise the chip is put in a ligament in the neck (not just under the skin as in dogs etc) & it was thought this was causing a variety of problems, nerve damage, abcess' ,scarring on the ligament etc. The siteing of the chip is to stop it travelling but if it is causing a problem perhaps the end of the dock might be a good idea ?. Any experiences you may have had may be worth sharing or thoughts on the subject. Thanks
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If you havent got a passport yet then I believe your horse now by law has to be microchipped if you want a passport ...

I had my youngster done for passport purposes and although he was really fidgety and scared s******s of the vet - he stood as good as gold for the actual implantation and let me feel around the area the next day so it really couldnt have hurt ...

I am having my older horse done although he is freezemarked, am just waiting for some spare ££ before doing it - I would have no qualms about having it done.
 
POLLDARK said:
Thanks for replying, none of you seem to have scare stories which is reassuring. I must admit the magazine article had horror stories & has made me wary. Do all Vets inject into the muchal ligament does anyone know.
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Yes - they have to by law. Only a vet can carry out this procedure in the UK.

Subcutaneous chipping (as done in smaller animals) allows the chip to migrate sometimes, which is ok in a cat or a dog - there's a lot more of a horse for a chip to migrate around, you'd be looking all day!
 
As Spudlet says there is no point putting a chip in any other place than the nuchal ligament as a vet or Trading Stds Officer checking at some time in the future will only scan that area.
 
I've seen well over a hundred or so done in the last three years and not one had a bad reaction. The vet does not clip or numb that area, just straight in done and over. This is the norm for TB's and has been for a long time now. My own horse was done as a 6 year old and didn't notice much, he actually objected more to having his flu vac done.
 
We had a block session when it came to chipping ours. Only one out of 6 had any form of reaction and that was grand daughters Sec A and that just bled quite a bit. Once bleeding had stopped she was fine and had no issues with it being touched the next day
 
All my horses are usually chipped, and I haven't had a bad reaction yet. If you are getting a passport now, then chipping will be compulsory I believe.

The only horse I didn't have chipped was my arab, as the vet that came out that day was a bit of a wet weekend, and he was an even bigger wet weekend, and I told her in no uncertain terms that there was no way she was going to even try getting close to him with a chip gun!! :)

I would have any future horses chipped though
 
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