Horse Theft


Keep current photos of your horse. Current means twice a year, one with winter coat and one with summer coat. Horses can change with age and conditioning from one year to the next. Take the photos from all sides and angles. Be sure to get a shot taken above your horse looking down, since this is the angle seen most at auction houses and slaughter yards. Keep these photos in a file with your veterinary receipts, bill of sale from when you bought the horse and registration papers if your horse is registered.

Have a written physical description of your horse. Remember that he may lose a lot of weight and change his temperament under the stress of being stolen. Take your written description and your photos and make up a flyer now. Start a list of names/addresses/phone/fax numbers for auction yards, slaughter houses, vets, farriers, and feed stores within 500 to 1000 miles of your home. Know which of the local agencies has jurisdiction in your area. If you live outside the city limits do you contact the police or sheriff? Know the numbers for your breed registry. Keep the flyer and list in your folder ready for immediate broadcast.

Marking your horse for identification is the best theft deterrent. Hot branding is most commonly used on cattle. Horses are more "thin skinned" than cattle and the trauma along with the possibility of infection makes it unpopular.

Freeze branding is more popular. The procedure is the same except the irons are chilled with liquid hydrogen instead of heated. The extreme cold kills the color producing parts of hair follicles so it grows back white. There is no skin damage so there is no chance of infection. It is said to be like having a cold ice cube placed on your bare back. Some horses still need to be sedated for the procedure. Hot or freeze branding requires that the brand be registered with the state's Bureau of Livestock Identification and fees must be paid yearly to keep the brand registered. You register the brand and also where the brand is to be placed. The brand identifies the horse as part of the group using that brand, but does not give the horse an individualized marking.

Freeze marking differs from freeze branding because it gives each horse an individual marking. It uses specially designed and copyrighted letters and numbers that are easily distinguished from a

The copyright of the article Horse Theft in Horse Talk is owned by Patricia Celley. Permission to republish Horse Theft in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Go To Page: 1 2 3 4

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic