Sometimes Standardbreds can be bought from auctions, or maybe you see one in a field and find out that the owner hasn't been doing a lot with the horse and wants to sell it (and doesn't know too much about the horse's history). There are some resources that you can explore to find out more about your Standardbred horse below.
Freeze branding is used to make identifying information on a horse permanent. The process uses a very cold branding iron to leave a permanent white mark on a pacer's upper neck area for identification purposes. Freeze brands are usually much more visible than hot brands. Thoroughbred horses have a tattoo which is placed under their upper lip which is used to identify the horse's information and history.
Standardbred horses have a freeze brand (a set of number and alphabet combinations) on the upper area of the neck in white. If you look closely you can determine the date of birth of the horse fairly easily by the first letter of the freeze brand.
There are always five characters in the freeze brand (either a letter and four numbers or two letters and three numbers). The first letter indicates the year of birth.
| If the first letter is: | The horse was born in: |
|---|---|
| A | 1982 |
| B | 1983 |
| C | 1984 |
| D | 1985 |
| E | 1986 |
| F | 1987 |
| G | 1988 |
| H | 1989 |
| J | 1990 |
| K | 1991 |
| L | 1992 |
| M | 1993 |
| N | 1994 |
| P | 1995 |
| R | 1996 |
| S | 1997 |
| T | 1998 |
| V | 1999 |
| W | 2000 |
| X | 2001 |
| Z | 2002 |
Another resource for looking up the information on your horse's freeze brand is the United States Trotting Association's RESEARCH A HORSE service which is free to use.
Another resourse on the internet that lists the ancestry of all breeds of horses is the All Breed Pedigree search tool. You will need to know your horse's registered name and the breed to use the search console. A beta search version has recently been announced.
Microchips are also used to identify a horse. Microchips are very tiny electronic devices that are implanted after local anesthesia in the horse's nuchal ligament (just below the base of the mane) about halfway between the horse's poll and withers. A hand-held radio frequency scanner reads the number which can be easily done by your vet who will likely have the scanner.
When you have the microchip information, you can use a free service to look up your horse with the Equine Microchip Lookup Tool.
As of 2021, all Standardbred foals are required to be parentage verified by DNA and microchipped in order to be granted registration. The pacers (harness race horses) have to be microchipped in order to be eligible to race in 2022.
Australia and New Zealand have different symbols in branding*. OFF THE TRACK (Australia) explains the meaning of the symbols.
*As of 2021, branding has been replaced with Microchips.
If your Standardbred horse does not have a freeze brand it is proably a young horse and has a microship with the identifying information. Microchip scanners can be purchased online.
If you know the previous owner of the horse or are thinking of adopting a horse, below are some good questions to ask:
- what is known of the horse's history?
- has the horse ever raced?
- are there registration papers?
- age, sire or dam, country of birth, racing name?
- how long has the owner had the horse?
- has the horse been ridden?
- any contact information for previous owners?
In order to be officially recognized as a purebred horse breed registration is necessary. If all else fails, in Canada you could contact Standardbred Canada and see if they may be able to assist.
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