Livestock Branding - Horse Branding Regulations

Horse Branding Regulations

A hot brand on a Hanoverian horse together with the silhouette of the brand

In Australia, all Arabian, Part Bred Arabians, Australian Stock Horses, Quarter Horses, Thoroughbreds, and the nine pony breeds registered in the Australian Pony Stud Book must be branded with an owner brand on the near (left) shoulder and an individual foaling drop number (in relation to the other foals) over the foaling year number on the off shoulder. In Queensland, these three brands may be placed on the near shoulder in the above order. Stock Horse and Quarter Horse classification brands are placed on the hindquarters by the classifiers.

Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds in Australia and New Zealand are freeze branded. Standardbred brands are in the form of the Alpha Angle Branding System (AABS), which the United States also uses.

In the United States, branding of horses is not generally mandated by the government; however, there are a few exceptions: captured Mustangs made available for adoption by the BLM are freeze branded on the neck, usually with the AABS or with numbers, for identification. Horses that test positive for equine infectious anemia, that are quarantined for life rather than euthasized, will be freeze branded for permanent identification. Race horses of any breed are usually required by state racing commissions to have a lip tattoo, to be identified at the track. Some breed associations have, at times, offered freeze branding as either a requirement for registration or simply as an optional benefit to members, and individual horse owners may choose branding as a means by which to permanently identify their animals. As of 2011, the issue of whether to mandate horses be implanted with RFID microchips under the National Animal Identification System generated considerable controversy in the United States.

• Anglo-Arabian

• Arabian

• Bavarian Warmblood

• Holsteiner

• Oldenburger

• Regional stud farm Moritzburg for Saxony and Thuringia

• Trakehner

• Numerical freeze brand