Discussion on How old are TBs when tattooed??
Use the navigation bar above to access articles and more discussions on this topic.
| Author |
Message |
    
Debra Dove
Member
Username: 5691
Post Number: 32
Registered: 8-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, Nov 27, 2007 - 11:41 pm: |   |
I have a TB with a tattoo that begins with the letter "S". One of my vets looked up the letter and determined that the letter corresponded with the year 1989 making him 18 years old.
My primary vet and several other people at my barn have commented that he just "looks older" than 18. My equine dentist feels that his teeth are about right for a late teenager "give or take a couple of years."
Does the tattoo reflect the birth year or are they tattooed later in life when introduced to the track?
I do not have papers with our horse and since the numbers are very difficult to make out, my inquiries with the Jockey Club make it difficult to distinguish my horse's history from any other chesnut gelding with the letter S on its lip.
Thank you,
Debra |
Elizabeth Kaufman
Member
Username: ekaufman
Post Number: 187
Registered: 3-2007
| | Posted on Wednesday, Nov 28, 2007 - 12:14 am: | |
Hi Debra,
Google reveals:
"Your Exracer's Tattoo
All thoroughbreds must be lip tattooed before they can be entered in a race. Very often, this happens as soon as the young thoroughbred first comes to the track to begin training, long before they are ready for their first race. For this reason, it is possible to have a thoroughbred who is tattooed, but has never raced. If your exracer has a tattoo, it is a good indication that he or she at least received some sort of race training.
The thoroughbred tattoos are applied by a representative of the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau only after registration papers have been issued. Your exracer will have a letter, followed by five numbers tattooed underneath the upper lip. The letter signifies the year your horse was foaled and the numbers are the last five digits of the seven digit Jockey Club registration number that appears on the papers. The first two numbers of the registration number are the year of foaling. For example, a tattoo reading V37317 would indicate that the horse was foaled in 1992, and that the Jockey Club registration number would be 9237317." |
