In February, 2018, the Board of Directors of Standardbred Canada approved the transition toward microchip identification for Standardbreds in Canada.
SC will be moving forward in 2018 with a pilot project to have a select group of foals both freeze branded and microchipped. Beginning with foals of 2019, microchipping will be mandatory for registration. At that time, freezebranding will be phased out.
Today, the United States Trotting Association's Board of Directors passed a similar motion, along the same timelines.
Over the coming months, SC will be announcing further details regarding microchipping.
"We have been working on moving forward with this initiative for several years," said Linda Bedard, SC's Registrar and Manager of Member Services. "The move to microchipping will make us more compliant with international standards and help with traceability of the breed."
My first thought was the same
My first thought was the same as expressed below - the ability to immediately identify a standardbred horse in any situation will be gone. Every situation from buying a horse to picking one out at a sale barn, etc. I've seen individuals unable to identify unfamiliar horses in a ship in barn, or even in a race paddock. Let's face it, most standardbreds look very similar. Microchipping is certainly easier and less stressful for the animal at the time, but with standardbreds registered electronically and having so few identifying markings and colours, moving to a microchip only system seems very dubious. My research shows that there is currently no app for a cell phone or mobile device that can read a microchip. Scanners are completely separate units and cell phones would require a totally different antenna coil and capacitor to scan microchips.
I believe there will be a
I believe there will be a phone app that can read the microchips.
This is a positive move. especially for traveling country to country.
I agree with Dean, how will
I agree with Dean, how will we identify the horses? This will be very difficult for after career/re-homing organizations as well to identify horses that come into their care. Will the tools needed to identify horses be readily available for everyone? During emergency evacuations in the USA, it was easy to identify horses, now what a daunting chore that will be.
Has the board considered that
Has the board considered that the ease of looking up a freezebrand number has saved numerous horses, and has helped reconnect many horses with their past racing owners?
So how will trainers,
So how will trainers, transport companies, veterinarians, etc identify horses without tattoos? Will we be forced to purchase equipment to read the microchip? If so, will the bid process to provide the technology be performed in a transparent manner ?