How to you keep track of your horses

[Mike Creel]

I do not currently have any minis. I have been researching, looking and preparing our farm. I have looked at breeders websites who have a large number of horses. How do they tell them apart? I mean if you have 100 horses and 100 sets of paperwork. Can you remember them all? Do you go by the pictures on the registation papers? What about foals? My fear is buying a horse and getting the wrong paperwork!

:

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Chamomile]

That is a very good question and I look forward to responses

: I have wondered how they do that and also have known people that had the wrong paperwork given to them as well. What a mess that can be!! I also had a mare from a big farm and her paperwork was a quandry. The mare listed as her mother died three years before my mare was born Now how in the world does that happen

:

 

[kaykay]

i have got to visit and talk with a few larger farms. Keep in mind that they didnt just suddenly have 50 or 100 horses show up

its a gradual thing. We had 15 (our highest number) but i could tell you the pedigree of every horse and the history. Because i didnt get 15 all at once it was a gradual building over 5 years. I know when I talk with larger farms they are the same way. They can usually tell you the history and pedigree of every horse on the place. Also I think the better big farms are extremely organized when it comes to papers.

I know tony posted once about all the solid black mares on his farm and hes the only one that can tell them apart lol

 

[Just Us N Texas]

Well, we have about 40 and no trouble telling them apart. As KayKay said, they didn't all come at once. On the large thoroughbred farms, and other breeds as well I am sure, they use neckstraps. A piece of leather around their neck, with a number or their names engraved with a piece of bronze riveted to the leather. The neckstraps are checked daily for wear and tear and loss. But rest assured, most good horsepeople can tell one of their horses from another! They all have some odd little thing or other that distinguishes them.

 

[MountainMeadows]

When you are a "mini mom" you just know them - each and every one of them. I have about 30 horses and most of them have been born on my farm - I know the "voice" of each one, they all have distinct, independent personalities and quirks - they have their "best friends" and they have their "enemies" - it is a wonderful experience to witness and be part of and I am so lucky to have found a breed that allows me to do so with only 10 acres of land.

That said, I have visited farms in the past (namely NFC Farm) who had several hundred horses and they used a collar with a number on it to keep track of each horse. Looks kind of weird, but if you are out in the pasture looking at dozens of horses and one happened to catch your eye if you gave the manager the number of that horse he could look it up and tell you everything you wanted to know, sire, dam, number of foals, vaccination record, farrier etc - it was really very well organized - and this was before computers were common so everything was kept in written records.

Stacy

 

[Relic]

We have 46 right now and they all have names and look like themselves. lt's like a group of people you get to know and comes easy after a while. And yes it helps if they didn't all show up at the same time..but we do have 3 grays that really look alike in color and height and sometimes l have to look real close at there faces into there eyes to see who is who. Old age on my part l think there...

 

[Jill]

I have "only" 17 or so :bgrin But, I feel like if I had 4x that number, I'd still be able to tell the apart and what papers go with who... I have a "gift" where I can remember almost any registered name of a horse I have met yet can't always remember the names of my clients on sight :no:

It might be a good idea to snap some pictures (front, back, sides) of each horse and keep a folder with paperwork and pictures for easier identification.

Just one tip I have that helps me keep track of deworming and shots is that I do everyone on the property at the same time and if I had "a lot", then I would do one pasture all at the same time (and obviously with deworming, all in the area should get it at the same time anyhow).

Looking forward to hearing what the big farms do!

 

[Kendra]

We have 60 horses, and if you pointed at any one of them out in a pasture, I could tell you their registered name, age and height, and more often than not, sire and dam as well.

Only occasionally in the middle of winter do we have to look for specific clues to tell a few of the 18 black geldings apart!

We have come across those who aren't quite so familiar with their horses, handing over papers that "looked close enough".

 

[Miniv]

Your question made me smile..........

We have 65 (not counting our babies) minis and ponies. Not too long ago someone came over to see the horses and was asking about some individuals. Larry and I were pointing to each one and telling them their names, ages, etc. The man shook his head and said, "I can't believe you can just tell me all of their names like that!"

Like someone else posted, they all didn't just land here. We either bought them or they were born here as individuals, so we see their individualities. We may have several chestnuts, but there's something different about each one both physically AND with their personality. Their like kids!!!

MA

 

[River1018]

Right now we have 20 with more on the way.

We know them all, they do have their own personalities, it is like being a mother like the above posts have said.

I can even tell which horse is whinning outside and I can't even see them. They have their own sounds (voices) like people.

Of course we keep detailed paper work on all vaccinations given and hoof trimmings etc with dates that they received the care, their temperatures when they are healthy so that we know what is natural for that particular horse, etc etc. etc

Good Luck!

 

[Karin - NaKar Miniatures]

I presently have 70+ horses, and just like Miniv, I have had people ask how I know who is who. Like others have said, they didn't just arrive here overnight. They are an accumulation of years of buying and breeding. They each have their own look and personalities. I remember once that I purchased 4 RED mares at one time. It took me a few days to actually tell who was who.

 

[Marnie]

I haven't read the replys, will do so later but I can say that the most mares I ever had was 48. I knew everyone of them inside and out. I could walk out their and could tell people their ages, bloodlines, anything they wanted to know. When we dewormed, I knew which had been done, which not. It was pretty easy to tell them apart. A guy I know who has alot of black mares has numbers, like a freeze brand, on them.

 

[frekles93]

[SIZE=14pt]I have always wondered myself how TONY keeps track of all of his 200+ horses..[/SIZE]

April

 

[Suzie]

I know some big farms have people hired to help do the paperwork. It can be daunting. I would love to be able to have someone do that part for me too! I really just want to be the "hired barn hand" and let someone else do the paperwork

: and let me play with the horses. :aktion033:

As for telling horses apart, it is just like telling twins apart to their mother. She can just tell. When people come here, I go through the pasture and tell them about this one or that one, these are like my kids.....I know their habits (good and bad) and if they would be the "right" horse for the person looking at them. My daughter laughs that she can't tell all the black ones apart or all the white ones apart. She likes the one pinto we have because EVERYBODY can tell which one she is! :bgrin I find myself saying, the white horse to the left of that pinto, or the black horse to the right of that pinto......LOL!

Edited to add: I don't recognize and remember people's faces very well. If I meet someone today and see them tomorrow, I might not recogize them. But I can see a horse one time and see it again 2 years later and identify it. It is a gift and a curse I guess.

:

I know when they are sick or feeling good. And I know their pedigrees way back. I handle every foal daily and they all know my voice and my smell and I know theirs. I only have close to 30 right now (with new foals) and some folks have more like 100 but I bet they are the same way.

:

 

[SHANA]

I currently have 16 minis and 2 arabians. I can tell you the registered names of any, sire and dam of any, year of birth, and medical history of all. I have 3 stallions, 11 mares and fillies, 1 gelding and one 2007 colt. The arabians are easy as I raised them and owned their dam. LOL I could tell you even if I had 50 as I know each horse as I spend time with each one. They are very spoiled here.

 

[Gracie]

Having 15 horses, 6 minis and 8 large beasts I can say I know each and everyhorse by sight and sound, can tell you all about tge reg names, date of birth, pedigree, when I got them how I go tthem, WHY I got them, I have a mom and son that look so much alike but theres ALWAYS something a little something to knwo the difference,

And If i hear one nicker, whinny or scream I can tell you exactly which horse it was and was it a good or bad holler,

They are each so different I imagine 100 horses later Id still see em all as individuals,

 

[Laura]

We have 60 horses, and if you pointed at any one of them out in a pasture, I could tell you their registered name, age and height, and more often than not, sire and dam as well.

[SIZE=12pt]This is us. *I* can tell them apart, but I'm the only one.

: [/SIZE]

 

[Minimor]

We've got 20-some here just now, & I can tell them all apart at a glance. It can be a little harder when it's nighttime & a black horse gets over the fence & is in with 3 other black horses, & I'm out there without a light trying to catch the stray one to put him back in his own place

: Been there, done that just last night....almost had the wrong one once, then realized before I actually caught her.... However, when a visitor comes here they generally can't keep them all straight, even though we don't have all that many look alike horses.

I've been to a friend's place where there are 50+ horses; the first time I visited I'm sure I pointed three different times at the same foal & asked "who's that?" but now that I've seen her herd a few times I can pretty much pick out which horse is which. The new foals are more tricky of course, since they're 20-30 "new" horses that I've never seen before except in a few photos...she always keeps them straight though.

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

I have 40 minis right now, and like everyone has said they just didnt appear overnight, it has taken me 10 years to put my herd together. It always seems to amaze everyone that I can look out my window and into the pasture and tell exactly who is playing with who out there. I can tell anyone there registered name, sire and dam; age and height, but I am horrible at keeping up with the temp to permanent registrations, and usually think about that a few weeks after they should of been mailed in,

: :no: but I always do keep all my registrations current. I dont think I could do it with a herd of 100 or more :no: Corinne

 

[Erin]

lol!

I don't have any mini's but I my job is giving pony rides.

On my second day of work, my test was to name all the horses, ponies, and donkeys, and there are 24 of them. lol, it was a doozy for my second day, but I did it.... sometimes you just know.