Pain of Branding, Microchip Insertion Compared in New Study

It is significantly more painful for a horse to be branded with a hot iron than it is to receive a microchip transponder for identification purposes, researchers concluded in a new study. They also found pain from hot branding lasts for at least one week.

There is some debate about how best to identify horses, with many supporters claiming that branding is best, sometimes citing the lack

Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

It is significantly more painful for a horse to be branded with a hot iron than it is to receive a microchip transponder for identification purposes, researchers concluded in a new study. They also found pain from hot branding lasts for at least one week.

There is some debate about how best to identify horses, with many supporters claiming that branding is best, sometimes citing the lack of proof that branding is painful to horses.

Casper Lindegaard, DVM, PhD, at the University of Copenhagen, and his colleagues, compared the immediate and post reactions to branding and microchipping in seven adult horses. All horses received both identification methods, but the researchers waited two weeks before applying the second method. Four independent observers scored the reactions of the horses.

Researchers familiarized the horses with the experimental setup every day for two weeks prior to receiving the identification methods to eliminate any environmental stress related to the procedures

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
295 votes · 295 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!