The Horse:Your Guide To Equine Health Care provides monthly equine health care information to horse owners, breeders, veterinarians, barn/farm managers, trainer/riding instructors, and others involved in the hands-on care of the horse.
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6 TheHorse.com THE HORSE August 2015 THE HORSE HEALTH E-NEWSLETTER This award-winning e-newsletter offers news on diseases, veterinary research, and health events, along with in-depth articles on com- mon equine health conditions. Supported by Zoetis. HORSE WELFARE AND INDUSTRY E-NEWSLETTER Get the latest news on equine welfare, industry happenings, and horse-related business news. E-NEWSLETTERS GET HORSE HEALTH NEWS DELIVERED TO YOU! CURRENTLY on INTERACTIVE GUIDE Natural Disaster: Are You and Your Horse Ready? Natural disasters can strike at any time and with little to no warning. Make sure you're prepared with a plan for your horse using our interactive guide at TheHorse.com/35909. Brought to you by the University of California, Davis, Center for Equine Health. VIDEOS How Can Horse Owners Protect Waterways From Their Animals? Discover practical ways to prevent horses from accessing creeks, ponds, irrigation canals, and wetlands at TheHorse.com/35994 How to Fit an English Saddle Ill-fitting saddles can cause serious physical and behavioral issues in horses. Make sure yours fits. TheHorse.com/35741 ➧ FIND THIS AND OTHERS AT THEHORSE.COM/VIDEOS FACT SHEETS AND FORMS ■ Identification Methods for Horses TheHorse.com/30016 ■ Emergency Evacuation Contacts TheHorse.com/35939 ■ Emergency Horse Care TheHorse.com/35940 ➧ FIND THESE AND OTHERS AT THEHORSE.COM/FREE-REPORTS PERMANENT PHYSICAL TRAITS Some ID forms, like passports, give a detailed description of a horse's physical characteristics. Such forms record signalment (age, sex, breed, etc.), conformation, coat co lor, white markings on the head and limbs, whorls, peculiar marks, and scars. A horse's chestnuts are also distinctive, just like human f ngerprints, and chestnut impressions can be created using f ngerprintlike technology. Many forms require veterinarians to hand draw the above-described markings. The Fédération Equestre International and United States Eques- trian Federation indicate that photographs have "major limitations." Older photographs might not ref ect what the horse currently looks like. Printed photographs can decay, angle and picture quality and a horses' positioning can distort its appear- ance, and digital photos can be altered. 1 If you do choose to rely on photos, keep them up-to-date, and take multiple photographs of the horse from various angles and in different seasons. LIP TATTOOING Originally performed as early as the late 1800s, The Jockey Club adopted lips tattoos in the early 1900s to eliminate cheating by "ringers," or horses that look alike. 2 An unalterable tattoo is placed on the inner aspect of the upper lip. The tattoo consists of a letter that corresponds to the birth year (e.g., the letter A corresponds to horses born in 1997, B for 1998, etc.) followed by a series of f ve numbers. Lip tattoo kits are commercially available; however, it's widely recommended that people with tattoo training and experience apply them. BRANDING Hot branding is one of the oldest equine iden- tif cation methods. Still widely used, hot brand- ing involves applying a hot iron or marker to the horse's skin to create a distinctive mark (pattern) and/or number. Hot iron branding produces the equivalent of a third-degree dermal (skin) burn and does not always effectively identify the horse, especially when digits are used instead of symbols. 4 Further, hot branding is signif cantly more painful than microchipping, and one research team discour- ages it. 5 That said, another study found that both hot iron branding and microchipping caused similar physiological (increases in heart rate and cortisol levels) and behavioral (aversion) changes indicative of stress, prompting researchers to con- clude that microchip implantation was as stressful as branding in foals. 6 Freeze branding is common in racing Standard- breds and other breeds. The brand is created by applying a super-cooled (soaked in liquid nitrogen) branding iron, usually to a horse's neck. The iron remains on the skin for only a few seconds in dark-coated horses, but up to 45 seconds in light-coated horses. In dark-coated horses the hair that grows back after branding is white, while the longer application in light-coated horses results in hairless markings. MICROCHIPPING Transponders (microchips) enclosed in glass vials can be inserted through a needle into the left side of the nuchal ligament, about halfway up the horse's neck. They are small--about the size of a grain of rice--and contain a unique 15-digit alphanumeric code that can be read by a hand-held radiofrequency ID (or RFID) scanner. All microchip numbers are registered with the mi- crochip company to prove identity and/or reunite horse and owner in cases of separation. Microchips occasionally can migrate, but only rarely will horses require reimplantation with a new microchip. Overall, studies show microchipping is a useful method of equine ID. 7 Further, smaller microchips are now available that are reportedly highly reliable. 8 BLOOD TYPING AND DNA TESTING Scientists developed blood typing approximately 30 years ago. While humans have only three blood types (A, B, and O), horses have eight: A, C, D, K, P, Q, T, and U. Genetic (or DNA) ID can easily be performed by collecting the genetic material from the root bulb located at the end of hairs. The process usually only requires f ve to 10 hairs from the mane or FAC T Sheet SPONSORED BY Equine Identifi cation Methods DISCOVER WAYS TO PROVE YOUR HORSE IS WHO HE IS IDENTIFICATION METHODS can help owners locate stolen horses or those lost during natural disasters, prove the correct horse is at a show or in the sales or breeding barn, and track infectious disease exposure within a population. While some breed organizations require specif c forms of identif cation (ID), such as lip tattoos in Thoroughbred racehorses and freeze brands for Bureau of Land Man- agement mustangs, there are a variety of methods that any owner can use to identify individual horses. AAEP Stamp of Approval According to the American Association of Equine Practitioners' Equine welfare committee, "Permanent ID (e.g., microchipping, lip tattoo, freeze branding) of each horse is an economi- cal, and humanetracking mechanism." 3 Identity Theft! It is important to note that with the exception of DNA (genetic) testing and blood typing, none of the available ID techniques described are foolproof. Markings and brandings can be tam- pered with, and lip tattoos can fade or become mottled over time, making them diff cult read or even impossible to read. ISTOCK.COM BY STACEY OKE, DVM, MSC; REVIEWED BY REBECCA GIMENEZ, PHD Freeze branding leaves a permanent mark, leaving white hair where the irons are applied. WHAT'S ONLINE UPCOMING PERFORMANCE HORSE NUTRITION EQUINE PAIN MANAGEMENT JOINT THERAPY LAMENESS IN HORSES EMERGING DISEASES GASTRIC ULCERS AND MORE! RECE NTLY ARCHIVED ERGOVALINE IN FESCUE PASTURE GRASSES FLUID THERAPY FOR FOALS PASTURE TESTING PARASITE RATES IN FOALS Visit TheHorse.com/uklectures to watch available videos today! Exclusively from TheHorse.com MONTHLY Equine Veterinary Seminars in partnership with the University of Kentucky Ag Equine Programs These FREE online videos covering timely topics are available at TheHorse.com/uklectures. ANNE EBERHARDT/THE HORSE PHOTOS