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May 19, 2019  |  By Holly In All Posts, Animals, Uncategorized

All The Pretty Horses

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There is no truer beauty that a herd of wild horses, but what about all those brands? Who did it and what to do they mean? Here’s a crash course on the BLM signalment, and what you can tell with a quick glance.

The Neck Brand

Once a wild horse or burro is removed by the BLM, they are all processed and receive neck brands that ID them. The first symbol is unique to the BLM and is noted as the Registering Organization. After that first symbol, you will see two that are stacked vertically. This shows the estimated year of birth, which is measured by the aging of the teeth.

Sinatra’s brand shows that he was originally adopted by a previous owner through the BLM.

The following two digits show the Herd Management Area (HMA) that the Mustang/burro was removed from, followed by their tag number, an ID that is unique to them. This is Sinatra’s only brand, that number of symbols tells us that he was originally adopted through the BLM and not purchased, which means he would have been under the age of 8 and statistically was likely a weanling or young colt when he was placed. The adoption fee for a BLM Mustang or burro is $125, and full title (ownership) is given a year after the adoption date.

The Big U

The vast majority of our herd carries this extra symbol, commonly referred to as ‘The Big U’. Once a Mustang is over the age of 8 (technically over the age of 10, but it can be bumped down due to space, common coloring, perceived defeats, and temperament) the Mustang is considered ‘unadoptable’ and is made Sale Authority. The other factor that gets Mustangs put onto the Sale Authority list is being listed in three prior adoption events. An unfortunate reality with the new rules and the Online Corral means this can happen very quickly. Online adoption events can be scheduled in rapid succession, which has sadly started to put weanlings and yearlings on the ‘unadoptable’ list simply because they weren’t selected during that window. For more information and to view available BLM equines please visit https://wildhorsesonline.blm.gov/

Blake’s shows us his BLM signalment and ‘Big U’. Photo by Jen Howe
Blake’s shows us his BLM signalment and ‘Big U’. Photo by Jen Howe

Hip Brands Galore

What about those hip brands? The four digits that are often seen on our Mustang’s rumps are also BLM brands. Those are their tag numbers which are added when a Mustang is sent into longterm holding. It’s used for staff to more easily ID a Mustang in the pens. We’re not sure of the reasoning for who or why, or if it’s location-specific for these brands to be added, but that’s what those numbers are. We do have over a dozen Mustangs that were in longterm holding for several years and didn’t receive this hip brand, and others that didn’t receive the Big U despite years of holding has a senior, so these brands can’t be relied upon 100% of the time. As a general rule though, they’re a good indicator of the basic history of each horse.

Photo by Jen Howe

What About Those Letters?

That’s a good question, and it’s one we’re still hoping to learn more about. Several of our mares have letters branded on their left hip. Those letters are PZP brands and show that the mare had been captured once before, treated with PZP (a vaccine contraceptive) and released only to be captured in the following roundup. We’d love to learn more about the actual coding behind these letters, so if you know the coding, please share!

Signalment Key

If you’d like to try your hand at reading some BLM brands, here’s a simple key. Further information can be found through the HMA coding available online.

If you’re looking to learn more about brand marks, the plight of wild horses and the ways that you can help, please visit https://wildhorseeducation.org/

They are a fantastic group, a wealth of knowledge, and the source for the helpful charts seen above. https://wildhorseeducation.org/blm-freezemark/

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4 replies added

  1. laura leigh May 19, 2019 Reply

    The letter coding is year and sequence order of PZP treatment. I see you grabbed a few charts off our website. It would be great if you tag the article you took them from on Wild Horse Education. We have great archives for folks searching for info. Wild horses face so many hurdles, particularly right now! We hope folks dig, learn and take action!

    • SFH May 23, 2019 Reply

      Thanks, Laura Leigh. Those were sent to us but I’d be HAPPY to reference WHE. Do you have the actual coding for the PZP? I’ve asked the BLM but have never received a response. Two of our mares have two different PZP brands on them, and I have three that look to have small letter A’s on their left side near their top line. I can’t find any reference to those, do you know? I thought they may have been private brands, but two are from different states.

  2. Jinx September 23, 2020 Reply

    Any idea what a large hip freezebrand with two zeros (00) would mean on a sale authority gelding? Sold in 2016 at 11 years old, not sure if the 00s were BLM or later in life. Thanks.

    • SFH September 28, 2020 Reply

      Hi Jinx,

      There are so many variations. Does he only have two zeros, or are there more numbers or letters? I’ve personally only seen two letters/numbers on their rump for mares that were caught and released with PZP treatment. It’s possible that your gelding received that brand after he was sold, but the BLM does seem to have regional differences, so maybe not (??). I wish I could tell you, that’s a great question!

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