Branding – Cruelty for foals?
by Friederike Scharmann- Courtesy Equine Investigators
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As you all know riding is based on tradition! Sometimes it only reminds us of earlier days, the way our ancestors have lived and how they have used the available resources. These may not have an effect on the modern life nowadays and sometimes the old methods have no use anymore.

This is the case with branding of foals. In former times the brand was the only possibility to identify animals. Today other methods of identification of animals exist. In this article I will explain what exactly happens when a foal is branded and give alternatives.

Definition: Branding

Branding means that a new born horse receives a sign of the breeding association the foal belongs to. The foal must be at least 14 days of age; in general the branding is done at an age between four month and one year. The brand consists of the sign of the breeding association and a number, which is the 12th and 13th digit of the identification number the horse receives when it is registered. This sign is burned, with a heated iron, into the first layer of the skin of the foals left hip. The iron stays on the foal’s buttock for only a few seconds, but burns the skin in a way that the sign can be seen lifelong. The number brand will be entered into the pedigree paper or the birth certificate.

Requirements

The precondition before a foal can receive a brand is that both parents are registered in the stud-book within the year of covering or at the latest in the year of birth of the foal (Verband der Züchter des Oldenburger Pferdes e.V.; September 2007). Therefore the parents have to meet the standards and requirements of the specific association.

Foals that do not fulfil the requirements and will therefore not get a pedigree paper (only a birth certificate), will only receive the double-digit number brand, when at least one parent is registered in the studbook within the appropriate year.

The notification of foaling must be announced to the breeding association within 3 months after birth of the foal (Verband der Züchter des Oldenburger Pferdes e.V.; September 2007). The breeder has to be a member at the breeding association as well.

When sending the notification of foaling to the association the breeders can state a favoured location, for the foals branding. Every association has set dates and places for brandings, where the breeders can bring their foals. In most cases these locations are training or riding stables, studs or breeding associations.

First step: Registration

The first step is the registration of the foal, where colour and markings are described. All markings are drawn in a graph, while they are simultaneous documented in words to ensure an easy identification. An important document is the birth certificate, where the date of birth, sex, colour and parents are documented.

If the mare is not registered until then, this will have to happen first.

After registration the breeder receives the number combination of the 12th and 13th digit of the identification number, which he will have to bring to the branding act.

Image of a diagram (Graphic 3)

Second step: premium

The second step is the judgement of the foals. This is only possible for foals whose mothers are registered at the main studbook of the association. At first each foal is judged running freely in the ring with its dam; then about six foals are presented together (Verband der Züchter des Oldenburger Pferdes e.V.; September 2007). Thereby the exterior and movements of the foals are judged. If the foal meets the requirements of the association it receives a so-called “foal premium”. When selling the foal this is of importance, because it indicates the quality of it. In colts it can be distinguished between animals that are allowed to receive a stallion license or not. Foals of high quality will be selected for an elite auction. In average about 60-70% of the foals receive a premium. The permission for receiving a brand is not dependant on the award of a premium.

Third step: branding

Following the premium the foals are branded. During the procedure the owner holds the foal at halter while it stands close to the mare. The heated iron is then pressed onto the foals’ hindquarter. Because this happens in only a few seconds, the iron is normally removed before the foal recognizes it and tries to escape. The breeder should then allow a few jumps to give the feeling of freedom.

After branding the event for breeder and foal is over.

The question which arises is if it is justified to cause pain to the animal only for a brand. But does the branding really cause pain to the foal?

During the branding process the iron burns only the first layer of the skin, when used correctly the subcutis stays sound and deeper layers are not affected (Steinmann, 2007). The pain the foals suffer from is only light and of short duration. It is not comparable with the pain human beings feel when burning a part of the body (Steinmann, 2007). The foal will not suffer from constant or longer lasting pain.

Therefore the law for animal welfare which states that no one is allowed to cause pain, diseases or damage without a reasonable cause to an animal (Tierschutzgesetz; 2007) is not violated. The statement, animal-rights activists come up with, that branding of foals is cruelty caused without a reason, is therefore not valid. Regarding the law for animal welfare the branding of foals is not prohibited (Steinmann, 2007).

The brand allows an easy identification of the breeding association for every person by eye. In fact this comes with a promotion effect for the concerned associations, it seems logical that the associations are not interested in ending the branding process. On the other hand it should be said that after a few years about 50 per cent of the brands are not clearly readable anymore (Bartz, 2007: 54-56).

Although the breed of the horse can be identified, the brand gives no exact information about the horse. The two numbers are indeed included in the identification number (12th and 13th digit), but as they are only two an indefinite number of horses receiving the same number combination. For an exact identification of the horse a blood test and a DNA analysis through a sample of hair must be accomplished, which cannot be done in a few seconds (Söhnel, 2007). In conclusion: the brand gives no advantage in identifying the animal.

While participating in the branding of foals, I recognized the high interest of people. Visitors who often have no contact with horses in daily life, come to watch this procedure. Especially at small locations the day of branding is an event of high significance for the people from town. Through this highlight they get close to horses which maybe lead to more interest in the animals at after all.

Statements like: “The procedure of branding was not that painful for the foal as I thought it would be.” are made (Söhnel, 2007). In this case the visit of this event clarifies wrong beliefs of visitors. A lot of people have only heard or read about the cruelty of branding foals but never saw it with their own eyes, and prejudice arose.

 

Some might say that the whole event is stress for the foal which could be avoided. At some locations over 100 foals are registered, which sometimes comes with overcrowded places. I agree to the fact that stress should be avoided for the foals. Especially young animals get easily confused about what happens around them. But in my point of view it is not the act of branding, which causes stress, it is more the handling of the foals. Therefore the guilt must be pasted over to the breeder/owner himself. During the branding process the foal stands close to its mother and until the foal can react to the heated iron it is quickly removed and the foal gets its freedom. This is only possible if trust exist between breeder and foal. If the foal did not get used to a halter and leading, it does not know how to react. Consequently the reaction will be fear and flight, and when the handler then tries to prevent this he often has to use much more violence. I have often recognized breeders standing and talking to each other while they lead their horses, hence not paying attention. For foals it is not justifiable to keep them away from their mothers. Sometimes it happens that the foals fall down, because the handler does not release the pressure on the halter at the right moment. A lot of handlers handle their foals as they would handle adult horses, without noticing that foals do not have much experience or routine with human beings and only react instinctively. This carelessness of the handlers causes stress to the animals.

To ensure as less stress as possible for the foals the organizer of the event must ensure enough room for the number animals that are expected, to prevent fights between the horses.

Summarized I can say that a lot of stress can be removed through correct handling of the animals.

The most common alternative to the branding is chipping. In the Netherlands and France all horses must be chipped since 2004. The precursor is developed in Germany; all trotters are chipped as foals since 1992 (Bartz, 2007: 54-56). For thoroughbreds chips are used and a lot of other breeding associations also already use the chip as an alternative identification.

When being “chipped”, foals are injected a transponder into the neck muscles on the left side. It consists out of an electronic programmed microchip with antenna, made of carbon that has the size of a rice grain. The chip includes an identification number. This is a 15-digit-code, which is selected randomly (Bartz, 2007: 54-56). Each number exists only one time worldwide. Three numbers of the code indicate the manufacturer, three others the country. At the particular breeding association this number is saved with all other documents about the horse, therefore an exact identification is possible. But no one is able to indicate the breeding association the horse belongs to by pure sight anymore. To determine the number, a reader is necessary; but once read the animal’s whole life can be traced back. The question arising now is if the pain the foals feel at receiving the injection is less when being branded? According to the statement of Dr. Steinmann, an equine veterinarian, the penetration of the injection is less painful than the branding and can be compared to the twitch humans feel when receiving an injection (Steinmann, 2007).

Since a few months a new form of a transponder exists, consisting of medically proven biopolymers, which should be gentler for the tissue (Bartz, 2007: 54-56). Dr. Steinmann stated that these are non-allergic materials and the animal does not feel its presence (Steinmann, 2007). The transponder does not have a negative impact on the horse, has no radiation, is not palpable, and cannot be exactly located through x-ray or ultrasound (Bartz, 2007: 54-56). Therefore the transponder stays the whole life in the animal’s body and can only be operational removed.

But with “chipping” a risk of placing the injection wrongly exists. First of all it can cause infections and secondly when injected too close to the surface the chip could slide into the upper skin (Steinmann, 2007). Does the foal feel comfortable during the treatment and correction of these faults? Rather not. But does this give an indication of whether to use or not use a chip?

Considering the health of the animal both methods are maintainable (Steinmann, 2007). The Federation Equestrè Nationale (FN) in Germany has tested the transponder for its safety and applicability. A manipulation of the transponder is impossible and only five out of 10.000 chips loose its capacity (Bartz, 2007: 54-56). The veterinarian I have spoken to stated that the branding of foals could not be seen as a cruelty act. He personally argued for the branding, because of the easy classification to the breeding associations (Steinmann, 2007). Regarding the advantages one cannot be indicated as account for more.

Since 2006 a new European regulation for the use of transponder identification should become effective, but the doubts of different breeding associations have rescheduled it (Bartz, 2007: 54-56). The fear that the chip replaces the brand is unnecessary; the transponder should ease the identification of the horse, while the brand is the marketing of the association and is on this note permitted (Bartz, 2007: 54-56). A combination of branding and chipping is only of advantage, because it secures the exact identification of the horse and is identifiable for laypersons as well.

References

Söhnel, Günther; Brennbeauftragte des Verbandes der Züchter des Oldenburger Pferdes e.V. (25.08. 2007), personal communication

Dr. Steinmann, Holger; Veterinarian (27.08. 2007), personal communication

Tierschutzgesetz; 2007; Erster Abschnitt; Grundsatz; § 1

Verband der Züchter des Oldenburger Pferdes e.V.; Breeding-Foals-Registration; New Voice GmbH, Oldenburg; [online] (cited on September 17th, 2007) Available from <URL:http://www.oldenburger-pferde.com/horses/index_36.php>

Dr. Bartz, Jürgen; August 2007; PferdeService: Medizin: Mikrochips als „Personalausweis“; Pferdesport International; p.54- 56; Ausgabe 19

Graphic 1: http://www.royal-windsor-horse-show.co.uk/images/tradestands/OL-Brandzeichen-Logo.gif

Graphic 2: http://www.equi-info.de/seiten/brandzeichen/han-wb.gif

Graphic 3: Verband der Züchter des Oldenburger Pferdes e.V.; Breeding-Foals-Registration; New Voice GmbH, Oldenburg; [online] (cited on September 17th, 2007) Available from <URL:http://www.oldenburger-pferde.com/horses/index_36.php>

Graphic 4: Branding of foals, march 2006, private picture; Verband der Züchter des Oldenburger Pferdes e.V.; Breeding-Foals-Registration; New Voice GmbH, Oldenburg; [online] (cited on September 17th, 2007) Available from <URL:http://www.oldenburger-pferde.com/horses/index_36.php>