Why don't people freezemark???

I think all horses should be freezemarked and then there wouldnt be the 'ugly' or not debate. If my horse was stolen and I hadnt done what I could to protect them I wouldnt be able to live with myself.

My mare is microchipped and freezemarked (and branded!) and her freezemark is a personalised one to make it memorable. I would do the same for any coloured or mare. My gelding is freezemarked as geldings are less of a target statistically.
 
i think that everything should be branded.....

have papers from birth...on ONE data base.

it would certainly stop a lot of indescriminate breeding.
 
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So are coloureds and mares more likely to be nicked?

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ATM the coloureds that are "nickable"..is that a word??..are likely to be Trad type mares and Stallions...

then its "trotter" types..
 
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Micro chips, you have to check their registered range, little point in having them if theres only a 50mile radius range to them...

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What????? That's rubbish. A microchip is indentifiable anywhere on the planet with the correct reader!
 
Oh, I do so agree. Having been involved with breeding and showing pedigree dogs and cats who each only have one registration body, I'm amazed that horses are such an indiscriminate mess. Yes, you could still have your individual breed clubs but a single, definitive registration authority makes so much more sense.
 
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Oh, I do so agree. Having been involved with breeding and showing pedigree dogs and cats who each only have one registration body, I'm amazed that horses are such an indiscriminate mess. Yes, you could still have your individual breed clubs but a single, definitive registration authority makes so much more sense.

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Exactly...not rocket science and i'm sure it would be far more cost effective.
 
I dont freezemark. I had one of mine done years ago and it was awful - pony flipped out and went ballistic the whole time (unsure it it hurt or he just didnt like it) and it wasnt done well enough so I can barely read it. Useless.

It looks unsightly, and you cant exactly do a grey horse can you? Id rather have a branded horse, although saying that it can be painful for them and one of mine is meant to be branded however I cant see one at all.... I live right beside mine however, athough I know this wouldnt stop them I feel a little bit more safe than if they were at a livery yard etc.

Catdragon - padlocked gates wouldnt help. Proper stealers would simply rip down a bit of fencing...
 
Greys are freezemarked but the irons are held on for longer, it is a bald mark rather than a white one. They are done on the shoulder or just below where the seat of your saddle is so can be covered by a saddle cloth
 
I have been involved in the recovery of a number of stolen horses over the years and I can assure you that the only way that members of the public or the police can identify a horse is by a Freezemark. If a suspected stolen horse is found 400 miles away from where it is stolen then the only way to identify it is by the Freezemark. A Freezemark can be read by anyone.

The theives recognise this as well and will avoid stealing and being caught with a freezemarked horse in their posession.

Microchipping at present is a very poor second best because there are 6 different systems on the market and the scanner of one system will not recognise chips of all the other systems.

If you want to recover your horse after it has been stolen then get it freezemarked as soon as you take ownership of it.

As from July 1st of next year there will be Europen legislation in place which states thet every horse born in Europe will have to be microchipped in it's Nuchal Ligament (so that it can't migrate) within 6 months of being born. Also any horse that does not have a passport by this date will have to be micro-chipped before a passport can be issued.

There will be a single European wide European Standard micro chip and scanner so that they can all be identified and read by the same specification of scanner.

Each country will have it's own Micro-chip data base but there will be a web site portal so that each countries data base can be accessed and checked for a specific Micro-chip.

Horse owners will of course have the opportunity of having their present horses micro-chipped with this standard microchip.

However i also strongly reccomend that anyone that wishes to recover therr horse in the event of it being stolen has it freezemarked immediately and without any delay.
 
I would always have a horse freezemarked. Mine were done 15 years ago and I am so used to it, I don't even notice it although it is still clearly visible.
 
Because I don't like the look of it, or the idea re: damaging the hair/skin, and I have only one horse I think might possibly tolerate the procedure out of three! All ours are chipped and very identifiable by their looks.
 
TriplesandH it would probably suprise you, i thought my arab would go ballistic just because that would be him, he is a drama queen, he had a quater inch cut on his leg and i swear the way he was carrying on you would have thought his leg was hanging off. I even went to the point of asking the lady if she want me to get him sedated, she said she would try it without, he didnt move a muscle for all 4 letters.
I was fairly sure that we would also have hysterics from the TB as he is very very highly strung, he didnt move either and he is grey so it was on his shoulder and held on for longer.
 
I know it wouldn't! I hav e a neurotic 3/4 tb who hates mane pulling, needles, being touhed by strange men (in case they wield needles) and saddlers who touch him..
and a stroppy bargy mare who would completely throw a tizzy.
 
Ours are freezemarked, and although I didn't want to have Beano done, he was. We are not in a particluarly high risk area, but certainly not a low one. Despite people telling me 'it doesn't hurt', well it probably does, and as nobody can possibly tell if any scar tissue forms future problems, we had him done on the shoulder. At least it is always visible there. I have had two horses with it done (prior to coming here) under the saddle, and they have both had saddling issues. It could be coincidence, but why take the chance? Yes, it does little to enhance his appearance, but if it stops him being stolen, is well worth it.
 
mine are all freezemarked. like you im not happy till they are all marked up etc, mine are also chipped.
one county judge approached me in a class asking how i had managed to get it done and why, he had never heard of freezemarking horses for security.
To me, the cost is of little significance to the appearance and if it helps deter them from being stolen then its money well spent
 
On these three pages I have not seen one sensible reason why someone would not Freezemark. Ugly - Painful - what a load of rubbish. Surely every horse is worth a moment of possible discomfort for a lifetime's security.
NO system can possibly be 100% effective, bur Freezemarking is not far off.
Needless to say, all my equines are Freezemarked a.s.a.p - icluding the greys.
Each to their own though.
 
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On these three pages I have not seen one sensible reason why someone would not Freezemark. Ugly - Painful - what a load of rubbish. Surely every horse is worth a moment of possible discomfort for a lifetime's security.
NO system can possibly be 100% effective, bur Freezemarking is not far off.
Needless to say, all my equines are Freezemarked a.s.a.p - icluding the greys.
Each to their own though.

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freedom of personal choice......thats a good enough reason for me.

i do not want any of my ponies FM'd til there is one central database, with a catagorical 100% guarantee that IF my animal is stolen, then it would be returned..as with stolen vehicles, this is not an option, so i wont waste my money.
 
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On these three pages I have not seen one sensible reason why someone would not Freezemark. Ugly - Painful - what a load of rubbish. Surely every horse is worth a moment of possible discomfort for a lifetime's security.


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Riiiight because of course a freezemark means your horse will be returned without fail, of course!!!!
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I think its ugly - fortunately I have enough money to take the chance if Im wrong - Im sorry you don't.
 
erm if you look at the statistics 99% of all freezemarked horses stolen are returned. I think that is pretty good odds to me. I'd rather have one mark on his back (which took 2 minutes to put on and only slight discomfort) and thus deter thieves and a 99% recovery rate if he is stolen, then tae my chances without it because i can garentee that less unmarked horses are found then freezemarked.

JM07 i dont know what planet you are on but stolen cars are not always returned, VINs are removed, plates changed and no one will know until the car is either scrapped or in a crash or subject to a police search. sometimes cars are torched, infact very few stolen cars are ever returned to thier owners, if the VIN has been removed and they are unable to locate or identify the proper owner then the car will be crushed.
 
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JM07 i dont know what planet you are on but stolen cars are not always returned, VINs are removed, plates changed and no one will know until the car is either scrapped or in a crash or subject to a police search. sometimes cars are torched, infact very few stolen cars are ever returned to thier owners, if the VIN has been removed and they are unable to locate or identify the proper owner then the car will be crushed.

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planet earth..

as vehicles are not returned/have their identity changed so too are freezemarked ponies...read my response further up, conniegirl about the Abbatoir pony.....

please read before you make a comment...thank you.
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i do not want any of my ponies FM'd til there is one central database, with a catagorical 100% guarantee that IF my animal is stolen, then it would be returned..as with stolen vehicles, this is not an option, so i wont waste my money.

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see your post dissagrees with you, here you say you want a 100% garentee like you have for vehicles, there is no such thing as a 100% garentee that your property will be returned and with vehicles the recovery rate is probably much less then that of the freezemarked horses.
 
I always thought that freezemarking meant that the horse (particularly greys) required time out of work - up to 4 weeks. That would certainly put me off.
 
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I always thought that freezemarking meant that the horse (particularly greys) required time out of work - up to 4 weeks. That would certainly put me off.

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No that isn't right. When freezemarking was still very new I had a grey marked on the shoulder, she was back into work within 5 days with no complications. I was lucky that she had black skin so the mark showed very well, but even a bald mark on pink skin recovers quickly.
 
They used to mark greys on the back though. No doubt the reason they now mark only on the shoulder of greys would have been due to problems sustained by those greys marked on the back. Probably why I had heard it was 4 weeks off work. I'm afraid I wouldn't want a white freezemark on the shoulder as I do think its ugly. I would much prefer a brand which would be far more subtle. Freezemarking on the back is obviously detrimental if the irons are left on too long and this is not a chance I would be willing to take on a non grey. My horse is branded, microchipped and DNA tested - that will have to do.
 
Must have been a very long time ago, i had mine done in the late 80's and they were already marking greys on the shoulder then (although I think I could have had her marked on the back but wanted the mark to be as visible as poss)
 
The statistics show that 99% of stolen horses have been recovered. Of non-freezemarked horses only 20% of horses are recovered. There is nothing worse than having your horse stolen and my advice is if you realy care for your horse is to get your horse freezemarked on the shoulder. There is no better method of visual identification and anyone can read a freezemark.
 
I know a story that is, I think, the ultimate argument for freeze marking. Someone I know found a stallion in her field one evening. Lovely beast, had obviously been well cared for. Phoned police as assumed it had escaped from somewhere, no match. Police not interested otherwise as safe. Ditto RSPCA. Only a small private yard & no facilities/expertise to keep a stallion so needed to get it moved on straight away. As no owner turned up in 24 hours they gave written permission for slaughter.
The story had a happy ending as many phone calls later a good home was found for him, but it was close, not easy to find a space for a stallion at short notice.

24 HOURS - not long for any report of a stolen horse elsewhere in the country to get missed in the system but if he had been freeze marked his ownership could have been traced with one call. This was very recent (this week) so an owner could still turn up, but it could have been to find a dead horse.
 
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