A branding iron is used for branding, pressing a heated metal shape against an object or livestock with the intention of leaving an identifying mark.
Branding irons from the Grant–Kohrs Ranch, c. 1910s.
Freeze branding is a technique involving a cryogenic coolant instead of heat to produce permanent marks on a variety of animals.
A feral horse (mustang) captured by the Bureau of Land Management and freeze branded using the Alpha-angle system. From left to right the brand says the horse is registered to the Federal Government, was born in the year 2000 and carries the registration number 012790, indicating that it was branded at a BLM facility in Oregon.
A wild mustang freeze branded by the Bureau of Land Management in 2004. In this photo the brand has just been applied and the horse's skin is still frozen in the depression left by the cryobrand. The brand says the horse is registered to the Federal Government, was born in 1997 and carries the registration number 599810, indicating that it was branded at a BLM facility in Nevada.
A freeze-branded mustang. The brand says this horse is registered to the Federal Government, was born in the year 2001 and carries the registration number 598563, indicating that the horse was also branded at a BLM facility in Nevada.
Bardigiano pony with a freeze brand on its neck. The long white hairs display the accelerated growth triggered by the destruction of follicle melanocytes.
