The Standardbred Retirement Foundation has announced that it will begin marking all horses entering its adoption program with a freeze brand.

Using liquid nitrogen and a cold branding iron, it takes less than one minute to apply a freeze brand. A freeze brand on every Foundation horse is another precaution to avoid the possibility of slaughter. Livestock auctions and slaughterhouses will be made aware of the tattoo, with the intent being that the Foundation will be notified and have the opportunity to reclaim their horse should one find itself in that dangerous situation.

“The bottom line is that there is no place like home,” said Gen Sullivan, of the Standardbred Retirement Foundation. “(The Foundation) works tirelessly to ensure every horse is carefully placed in a safe home, but there is no guarantee. Should someone feel inclined to breach our contract, and break the law, and a horse shows up at a livestock auction or a sale for slaughter, we will have another safety net in place. Our rigorous screening of adopters, strict adoption contract, and ongoing, lifetime follow-up program is still not an ironclad guarantee.

“Unfortunately, not all organizations follow a horse for life; some give up ownership to the adopter after a period of time. It is our experience over 17 years that the commitment to a horse for its life is the exception -- not the norm. Adopters have lifestyle changes; kids grow up and go off to school. The fact is that most horses have several homes in their lives. We encourage similar organizations to join in the identification program once it is in place."

Grants are being sought in order to set up a registry so other organizations can use what should become a universal freeze brand for easier identification of horses who have had been through an adoption process. The Foundation’s freeze brand will have a universal symbol with the Foundation’s initials, and possibly a number, to identify each horse. With the tattoo system used by the U.S. Trotting Association the individual horse numbers may not be necessary. The identification program should be in place by the beginning of the year.

For more information about the Standardbred Retirement Foundation, visit www.adoptahorse.org.

Source: USTA Website (09-23-06)