Several years ago, a call from a local horse auction took us by surprise. The man in charge of the sale was asking if we owned a gray mare branded 7003. It took a few minutes but we found where we had owned that mare several years ago but had sold her as a broodmare.

Returning to the phone, we were told that it was so obvious that this mare had some good breeding that they were afraid that the mare had been stolen. Since she was wearing our brand, they called to check on her status.

Over the years we have branded hundreds of horses and as yet have not had one stolen. However, preventing theft was not the main reason for the brand. Our primary purpose was for identification.

During some periods of our horse management career we have taken care of large herds of horses where having a number brand allowed for better record keeping and prevented identity mix-ups which are inevitable if a horse looses its neck band or halter ID.

Today, however, branding takes on a new meaning – advertising. We are usually proud of the horses we produce so with our farm brand on their hip wherever they go, the horses represent our program.