Why do German breeders still burn their babies?

Dizzle said:
My best freind is German and I'm pretty sure her daughter has so far got to 4 years old without being burned, maybe because she's half English? I shall speak to my friend this evening and ask if her parents ever tried to set fire to her. Thank you for this thread, I shall try and me more sensitive with my German friend, is this why she kept offering me cigarettes last night..?
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:D:D:D:D
 
I wouldn't have my pony hot branded.

Although when they were being freezebranded my mare didn't life her eyebrow about it but my youngster hated it. So much so that the freezemark hasn't taken particularly well. As he goes grey in the spring / early summer I'm going to have it redone so that it creates a bald brand. BUT. I'm going to numb the area with Emla (lidocaine) first as I won't put him through that again.
 
Dizzle said:
My best freind is German and I'm pretty sure her daughter has so far got to 4 years old without being burned, maybe because she's half English? I shall speak to my friend this evening and ask if her parents ever tried to set fire to her. Thank you for this thread, I shall try and me more sensitive with my German friend, is this why she kept offering me cigarettes last night..?
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My next door neighbour is german and I'm pretty sure she hasn't burnt either of her children!!
 
As with all procedures it depends entirely on the skill of the practitioner as to how much discomfort the animal feels. I don't have a problem with hot branding and can always spot the branded ones more easily than freezemarked.
However I think BEVA would like the practice banned.

CPT, look on the bright side. If he gets in the feed store you'll have something to aim at. Of course you'll need a Ronaldo-type scissor kick on an animal of that size:D..... (too soon?:o)
 
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Well I've just skim read the entire thread and can't find that many people have actually tried to reply to the OP's original question - namely "why do some german breed societies still hot brand their horses, what is the actual point?". I think this is a fair enough question, given that OP has pointed out her other equally well-bred warmblood isn't branded.

Is there anyone out there who can provide a reasoned, sensible response to OP's original question? I'm not being difficult, I would really like to know as I suspect there may well be some sensible reason for it that this thread has sadly been unable to reveal.
 
cptrayes said:
You seem also to be unaware of the technology for number tattooing animals. The entire number is constructed out of pins in a punch like a date stamp. The pins are inked. The whole number is punched in one swift movement, over and done with. It is completely practical to tattoo horses in this way, and, again, if you had bothered to read the original post you would have found out that racehorses in the US are so tattooed.
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Tattoos are actually known to fade so are not entirely reliable and of course are not immediately visible. Why would having needles punched into your lip be more humane than a hot brand?
 
I guess they also do it so you don't have the sitution that I have with my boy - born in Warendorf, obviously very well bred, great performance, but a bit of a mystery horse - no parentage in his passport, no way of tracing him even by microchip (tried the breed assocations in Germany), no way whatsoever of finding out any history on him beyond what is known in this country.
 
The_Hooligan said:
Please do your home work before comenting on something you don't understand, why are you getting all high and mighty, so what if your horse is well bred its no different to any other equine all eat the same way, sleep the same way, and poo the same way, brading/freezmarking/chipping DOES hurt equally and NONE of them hurt very much, do get over yourself OP this post is pathetic!
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Can't see how you know that NONE of them hurt very much, have you tried it on yourself ? There is no difference between your nerve endings & any other mammals. please do your homework (ie try it yourself) before commenting on something you cannot understand, getting all high & mighty.
 
The_Hooligan said:
Please do your home work before comenting on something you don't understand, why are you getting all high and mighty, so what if your horse is well bred its no different to any other equine all eat the same way, sleep the same way, and poo the same way, brading/freezmarking/chipping DOES hurt equally and NONE of them hurt very much, do get over yourself OP this post is pathetic!
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"brading (sic)/freezmarking/chipping DOES hurt equally and NONE of them hurt very much"

I think BEVA might disagree.

http://www.beva.org.uk/_uploads/documents/BEVAstatementreHotBranding5.3.pdf
 
ester said:
horse and cat chips are the same size, cat chips go under the skin, horse chips into the ligament.
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Indeed. The chips are all the same size but they move around if injected under the skin, as in small animals, hence them being put into the neck ligament. It is a lot more painful (the hollow needle is huge), which is why horses are usually sedated.

I am not a tree-hugger, but think branding is barbaric. A friend's horse cannot be hot shod as it goes ballistic when it smells the smoke. I have no idea whether there is a connection between this and its massive, hideous brand, but it would not surprise me. Just because something has always been done, it doesn't mean it's right.
 
laura_nash said:
Well I've just skim read the entire thread and can't find that many people have actually tried to reply to the OP's original question - namely "why do some german breed societies still hot brand their horses, what is the actual point?". I think this is a fair enough question, given that OP has pointed out her other equally well-bred warmblood isn't branded.

Is there anyone out there who can provide a reasoned, sensible response to OP's original question? I'm not being difficult, I would really like to know as I suspect there may well be some sensible reason for it that this thread has sadly been unable to reveal.
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Why don't YOU give a reasoned and sensible reponse then?

Personally, if it means a horse is less likely to be nicked ( but it can still happen....) then surely it's got to be a good thing, right?

I'm still wondering why the OP gave this the title she did, I'm still waiting for the answer on that one....
 
laura_nash said:
Well I've just skim read the entire thread and can't find that many people have actually tried to reply to the OP's original question - namely "why do some german breed societies still hot brand their horses, what is the actual point?". I think this is a fair enough question, given that OP has pointed out her other equally well-bred warmblood isn't branded.

Is there anyone out there who can provide a reasoned, sensible response to OP's original question? I'm not being difficult, I would really like to know as I suspect there may well be some sensible reason for it that this thread has sadly been unable to reveal.
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Perhaps with most warmbloods looking very similar types, the societies that do brand want it known which are theirs instantly or are proud to own up to them.
 
Brandy said:
I haven't read the 10 pages of replies as yet, but thought Iwuld just add that exmoor ponies are generally branded, on the shoulder with the exmoor star and the herd number, and on the quaters with their personal number. Thats three brands on a very small pony foal.

The arguement being that it is for ID purposes which is utter rubbish - anyone ever tried to read one of these brands? Most ponies brands can be seen in their summer coat, although you will be lucky to be able to read them, and in the winter coat, youwouldn;t even know they were there, and given that the ponies on the moor are wild, you wouldn;t get close enough anyway!

I could go on but will stop now.

Any branding should be made illegal.
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Want to read a firebrand easily, clip hair away and damp the clipped area. Brand is easier to see.
 
Nerve endings and nerves are indeed destroyed by extremes of heat (or cold), but there will always be tissue in the border between 'burned' and healthy tissue where the nerves are damaged (neither completely killed nor completely unaffected) but still able to signal pain caused by inflammatory processes. If the inflammation is extensive, the pain will be 'felt' (signalled) by adjacent undamaged nerves too.
 
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Sooty said:
A friend's horse cannot be hot shod as it goes ballistic when it smells the smoke. I have no idea whether there is a connection between this and its massive, hideous brand, but it would not surprise me. Just because something has always been done, it doesn't mean it's right.
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I'd be surprised if that was connected...I've known many many horses with brands that had no issues being hot shod. Far more likely that horse had a bad experience being hot shod. I've seen foals being branded on the continent and to be honest they were not overly stressed by the experience. They might have given a squeal or call once then not a bother on them...pretty similiar reaction to calves when they are eartagged!
 
Evelyn said:
Why do some get branded and not others?

They have very strict criteria - if the horse doesn't measure up then no brand.
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Not the whole story. I have two of equal quality. One society brands, the other does not. KWPN do not brand and they have the highest standards in the world.
 
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