How to you keep track of your horses

[keely2682]

i do not have and never plan to have 50 horses but i had a flock of 50 sheep. they were all black faced white wooled sheep of the same breed (identical at a glance, unlike horses with distictive colors and markings) yet i could tell them apart. i could even recognize their "baas" without looking at them. they had ear tags as a backup plan but never once did i have to look at those. i put my heart and soul into the breeding program that i had developed.

regardless if the species of animal, when you go to a reputable breeder, someone who is passionate about the animals they are breeding, you can trust what you are buying. be wary of those in it "to make a quick buck," those are the "puppy mills" or "pony mills." those people do not breed for the love of the animal and the betterment of the breed. the value of the breeders word can be seen in their commitment to what they are breeding.

 

[Miniv]

i do not have and never plan to have 50 horses but i had a flock of 50 sheep. they were all black faced white wooled sheep of the same breed (identical at a glance, unlike horses with distictive colors and markings) yet i could tell them apart. i could even recognize their "baas" without looking at them. they had ear tags as a backup plan but never once did i have to look at those. i put my heart and soul into the breeding program that i had developed.

regardless if the species of animal, when you go to a reputable breeder, someone who is passionate about the animals they are breeding, you can trust what you are buying. be wary of those in it "to make a quick buck," those are the "puppy mills" or "pony mills." those people do not breed for the love of the animal and the betterment of the breed. the value of the breeders word can be seen in their commitment to what they are breeding.

I think Keely put it pretty well.........No matter what the number of the animal, a breeder who loves them and is looking for their best interests and the betterment of the breed will "know" each one they own. It's the difference between LOVE and MONEY.

Someone previously mentioned how they recognized their horse's voices.........so true! We keep our bedroom window open at night, and even with the numbers we have, when we hear one of them whinny, Larry and I can usually tell who it is.

MA

 

[susanne]

I have a mom and son that look so much alike but theres ALWAYS something a little something to knwo the difference,

I bet I can guess what that little something might be!!

...sorry, I couldn't resist!

And MA -- I know that I could recognize one of your chestnuts in the dark with my eyes closed!

As for my three... I know each very well, and they are three different colors, but I still call them by each others' names, just as my Mom always did when her six children lived at home. She even threw the dogs' names in to add to the confusion!

 

[dannigirl]

We did get ours in large herds. First we got a herd of 28 mares, 12 foals and a stallion. We took photos of each and every one and I put them with the papers and stood at the fence and looked and watched for days to figure out all the mares. It took about a year, but I have been able to tell them apart. Then we got a herd of 16 foundation/mini mares. This was a bit tougher since several of them were sets of full sisters. They were so similar and only one year apart in age, so that was harder(since no one else could tell us which was which) but now I know them apart. Our biggest problem is usually foals and I will buy many different colored halters to tell them apart. I put names, dams, registries and color halters on each stall, so hubby can tell them apart as well. It takes a little while, but individuality comes through and we soon catch on. I observe each and every horse here at least 2 times a day and can usually tell when something is a little 'off'. We currently have 62 minis here--which includes 5 foals.

 

[CheyAut]

I have 20 equines, only 10 are minis, but like the others have said, you just know your horses. Yes, I can tell them apart by sound, and I can tell you their parents, their heights, birth years (and most times, exact day).

To add on to that, we have a dozen cats (indoor only!). 4 are black. Hubby had a hard time telling the black ones apart at first, but now he's pretty good at it. Not only can I tell them apart at a glance, if my eyes are closed and they walk on or near me, I can tell exactly which cat (out of the dozen) it is just by feel (weight and how they walk/step and where they go). You just know your "kids"

Jessi

 

[AppyLover2]

I was a bit surprised at how many of you have a LOT of horses. I don't have any problems at all with the names of my 4.

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[Cara]

halters. each horse has a differnt colour halter, and when we run our of colors we cus shades lol

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[Margo_C-T]

It is the person or persons who actually CARE about the horses, AND care FOR them, who will know them from each other. (i.e., NFC, where the owners were just that--the owners-NOT the caretakers). As others have noted-I know everybody here, including by voice; could tell you their age, breeding, etc, at the drop of a hat-could when I had 17(my highest number. If a place is in business mostly for numbers/dollars, that is where you are most likely to run into a risk of the papers and the horse not matching, or being 'close enough'(with a few notable exceptions!)

To address the original question- the best way to ensure getting a horse whose papers will be his/her own-shop for one with distinctive color or markings, not a solid color; take care to match horse to papers-height, age, gender, ANYTHING distinctive; deal only with papers where there is a PHOTO required on the papers--all this goes DOUBLE if you are seeking potential breeding stock. It also wouldn't hurt to be sure that DNA had been done, and PQ if possible, and ask for a written guarantee that the horse you are buying IS the one represented on accompanying registration papers. Don't buy 'on application', do understand what proper paperwork you should be receiving, and what constitutes 'up-to-date' on said papers--be sure all transfers are properly filled out and signed to MATCH the registration papers, with NO blanks and with NO changes made on said forms.

Good luck!

Margo

 

[Tony]

People are always amazed when I take them on a tour of our horses and give any information that they want on each and every one. I have been doing it for over forty years and many of the horses here are many generations of our breeding, some go back as many as eight generations. Even as a child I learned and remembered horses names, any that I liked, but still have trouble remembering people's names.

I personally name almost every foal, and usually within minutes of their being born. I insist that we call them by name from the very beginning so that the names become ingrained quickly. The ones that I have trouble with are those that belong to Lauren, who sometimes names hers, and I seem to have a block about some of them from time to time.

We have had so many foals in the past six weeks and I keep them in the yard for about a week and take pictures almost daily, work on their individual web pages, and work with them. When people come I practice, discretely the name of each, and if I draw a blank, I excuse myself, go inside and look up the name. This morning I had a block about two fillies. Of course, it could have been that I had not slept but about three hours. One I forgot even after looking her up, so I changed the name a little to make it more rememberable to me.

I sometimes buy six to eight horses at a time and usually have them learned by the time I unload the trailer.

Because I am really the only person who knows every horse, and actually have a few very closely related mares that I have to get together to determine which is which, I have microchipped all our black horses and our grey mares. Bit by bit we are microchipping others so that when I die, identification won't be so difficult for those remaining.

Sorry this is so long, but several asked...

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[StarRidgeAcres]

Wow! I must be a slacker!! I read all these post, but I still don't understand how it's possible to remember names, pedigrees, heights, etc when you have 50+ horses! I only have 20 and I can tell you everyone's barn name, registered name and their habits, but only on the show and breeding horses can I tell you sires, dams, etc. I even have senior moments on them from time to time! :bgrin I can tell their calls apart, but that's just part of being their momma I guess.

 

[hairicane]

We had over 80 minis last year here and since I bought and paid for each one of them with hard earned money, I DO REMEMBER each and every one. If I hadnt bought them then I bred and foaled them out so those I really know well. We "only " have about 40 horses now and most are very colorful so its real easy to know who is who.

I bought some horses from a ranch in tx that had 700-800 minis and was amazed that the owner could name and tell us about a great majority of her horses. They have full time round the clock horse help but are still very hands on, foaling out all the mares themselves. They keep excellent records and all horses have any markings, scars, whorls in the coat written down and photographed in their records. And they have the horses divided up by age, sex, etc in various pastures. They did also buy the scanner and microchipped all their herd to make it easier.

 

[Miniv]

We had over 80 minis last year here and since I bought and paid for each one of them with hard earned money, I DO REMEMBER each and every one. If I hadnt bought them then I bred and foaled them out so those I really know well. We "only " have about 40 horses now and most are very colorful so its real easy to know who is who.

I bought some horses from a ranch in tx that had 700-800 minis and was amazed that the owner could name and tell us about a great majority of her horses. They have full time round the clock horse help but are still very hands on, foaling out all the mares themselves. They keep excellent records and all horses have any markings, scars, whorls in the coat written down and photographed in their records. And they have the horses divided up by age, sex, etc in various pastures. They did also buy the scanner and microchipped all their herd to make it easier.

By any chance was the lady named, Jane???

MA

 

[Erica]

I can give you the rundown of any of the 50 or so that's on my farm; their names, pedigrees, ages, foals, ext...........I see them all everyday.

I'm really good with horses, I can remember horses names from a show 5 yrs ago, what class and probably what they won and more than likely who the judge was...........people, not so good with names, good with faces, but not so good with names.

 

[hairicane]

We had over 80 minis last year here and since I bought and paid for each one of them with hard earned money, I DO REMEMBER each and every one. If I hadnt bought them then I bred and foaled them out so those I really know well. We "only " have about 40 horses now and most are very colorful so its real easy to know who is who.

I bought some horses from a ranch in tx that had 700-800 minis and was amazed that the owner could name and tell us about a great majority of her horses. They have full time round the clock horse help but are still very hands on, foaling out all the mares themselves. They keep excellent records and all horses have any markings, scars, whorls in the coat written down and photographed in their records. And they have the horses divided up by age, sex, etc in various pastures. They did also buy the scanner and microchipped all their herd to make it easier.

By any chance was the lady named, Jane???

MA

U are exactly right MA! But then its easy if u check out my website as I have several, 6 I think, with their farm names on them

: I know they have cut back a lot but it was amazing how many she knew by sight the times we were there.