To The Editor,
I would like to reach out to your readers on the importance of current rule change proposals – 4, 18, 20, and 21, which will be voted on by all USTA district Directors, at the United States Trotting Association’s National meeting held in Columbus, OH., in March 2022.
Introduced by Ellen Harvey, I am a co-sponsor of these proposals, along with Keith Gisser and Sabine Spring. These proposed changes would bring the identification process for registration in compliance with USTA Rule 7.06*, which has been replaced by a mandate, issued without due process, recognizing the microchip as the only required form of identification. We are united in our efforts to retain freeze brands, along with microchips. Here’s why.
We believe the harness racing community shares common goals that include the welfare of our horses and our industry. We want to ensure they both have a thriving future. With horse racing already under the microscope, we need to do everything we can to protect our horses and our industry’s integrity. Together, the visible ID of the freeze brand, and the invisible microchip, create an extra layer of security eliminating many potential problems on and off the track.
While chips offer us a degree of ease in identifying horses at the racetrack and provide a temperature of the horse, which may be useful to a trainer, or a veterinarian, it is not foolproof. It is not a GPS tracker for your horse. You won’t be able to follow the chip to find his/her real time location. The microchip itself stores only a fifteen-digit identification number, that is registered in a database. The chip identifies the horse and connects it with the owner and other pertinent information. Failing to register the chip, update your contact info, or transfer records, basically renders the chip useless. It is not a failsafe that your horse will never end up in a bad situation. Slaughterhouses and auctions do not routinely scan for microchips, and neither will horse thieves.
Most of our Standardbreds will pass through many hands and end up in the slaughter pipeline. It is at this juncture of their lives that a visible ID makes a life-or-death difference. The work of rescue groups will be severely curtailed in the absence of white hairs on the left side of a horse’s neck that can be seen from a distance. Entering a crowded feed lot or kill pen armed with a scanner, if even allowed, is not feasible. Don’t take my word for it. Judith Bokman, the Executive Director of the Standardbred Retirement Foundation, which alone is responsible for pulling 600 – 800 horses off the slaughter line every year, spoke earnestly on the subject in an open letter to Joe Faraldo, Chairman of the USTA.
It is important to note that these rescued Standardbreds are supporting the agricultural economy for many more years, as well as vets, farriers, tack suppliers, truck and trailer sales etc. They are also giving us brand recognition and earning a reputation outside of horse racing. Their new connections cite their versatility, willingness, intelligence, athleticism, and personality as they seek to learn more about the breed. The success of Standardbreds in other arenas, as well as a pleasure horse, is something we should embrace not inhibit. Why would we not give them the best opportunity to be spared?
With our first crop of “chip only” horses hitting the track this year, and the older horses adding chips in order to be allowed to race, we have already encountered some problems with horses being presented for ID. Just as two pieces of identification are required for people to get a passport, open a bank account, or apply for a job, the redundancy of an ID for racehorses most certainly reduces risks and supports integrity.
Stolen Horse International, Net Posse ID, was one of the first to advocate for microchips. The not-for-profit organization created their own registry and began selling chips, at cost, to horse owners in 2002. Founder Debi Metcalfe is considered an expert in horse identification and unequivocally states, “There is no perfect ID by itself. We highly recommend the microchip in combination with a permanent form of visible ID, as well.”
Before we pay the price for removing a reliable, simple, low tech, visible ID that has served our horses and our industry well, please consider joining the voices of many USTA members and non-members, who either have adopted a Standardbred from a rescue organization or are affiliated with a welfare group and let the USTA Directors know that you are in favor of freeze brands along with chips. Together they are a win-win!
Trish Soulsby
Powell, OH
* Rule 7.06 “No horse that has not been tattooed or freeze branded and implanted with a microchip as authorized by the USTA will be permitted to start at an extended pari-mutuel meeting unless the permission of the presiding judge is obtained…”