March 2022 Issue

EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN March 2022 Page 71 Real Estate Reach families with horses and equestrian professionals looking to relocate to this region with an ad in East Coast Equestrian . For more information, call (717) 509-9800. The news East Coast horse owners need to know Please resubmit your events to steph @ eastcoastequestrian.net Please provide event name, location, city, state and contact information for inclusion at no cost in our calendar. Attention Event Organizers! The news East Coast horse owners need to know Microchipping Presents Problems for Standardbred Rescuers (Continued from page 54) “Our horses most typically go from the racetrack to the Plain communities, and when they can no longer carry their weight in the Plain community that’s when they are in peril,” Harvey said. “That (freeze brand) is the only defense they have at the last juncture in their lives where they can get help.” The cost to register a Stan- dardbred foal was $150, which included DNA testing, recording of markings and microchipping. If you choose a freeze brand only with no microchip at that time of registration the cost is an addi- tional $75. This includes the cost of having a microchip implanted by a future owner of the horse. If the freeze brand is request- ed and done at the same time as the microchipping the freeze brand fee is $40 in addition to the $150 registration. An older horse that has been freeze branded only can have a microchip inserted for a fee of $35. Ellen Harvey is the fifth generation of her family to make a living with horses and the second to do it with Standard- breds. Her father is Hall of Fame driver/trainer Harry Harvey and she herself worked in the public relations field for the USTA for 22 years before retiring. Harvey encourages USTA members who are concerned about the issue to contact the directors that represent them and let their feelings be known. When contacted for com- ment, USTA Executive Vice Pres- ident/Chief Executive Officer, Mike Tanner replied: “There are several rule change proposals concerning microchips and freeze brands that will be considered by the USTABoard of Directors at their annual meeting in March. Presently, the USTA rule mandates microchips as the primary means of identification of Standardbreds registered with the Association, but also provides members with the option of freeze branding their horses as well. To my knowledge, the USTA is one of only two major horse breed reg- istries in the world to provide this service, a decision that was made in 2018 after input from Ellen and others was relayed to the Board, and also in service to the Amish community involved in harness racing. (Standardbred Canada reinstituted the freeze brand option a month or so ago, but at a much higher price than the USTA). Last year, the Association applied freeze brands to more than 2,600 horses. “Unlike the Jockey Club (T-breds) or just about any other horse breed registry, the USTA encourages rule change proposals from its members, takes those proposals through an entire district meeting process where other mem- bers and directors can discuss, de- bate and vote upon them, and then, through a simple majority vote by its 60-person board, decides wheth- er to accept them or not.”