"Brands are the classical language of the American West.”
Ivan Doig
While many Europeans have family crests and shields, many Montana families have brands.
Brands are issued to livestock owners by the Montana Department of Livestoc. They are specific in species and location on the animal. Dunrovin’s brand is an equine, right shoulder brand consisting of a “lazy D” with a “hanging R.”
The method we use to brand our horses is called “freeze-branding.” This involves shaving a patch of hair from the right shoulder, giving the horse a local anesthetic, and applying a branding iron that has been frozen in liquid nitrogen. This method blocks the color in the hair follicles so the hair is made permanently white.
We brand our horses for two reasons:
- To reduce the risk of a horse being stolen and resold -- branded horses cannot be sold without a brand inspection.
- To identify our horses, so that if a horse becomes lost in the backcountry, someone who finds it can trace the brand back to Dunrovin.