What are the different brands?

The following brands are currently in use or have been used by the AHS in previous years to mark Hanoverian breeding stock and foals in North America. Foals are traditionally branded by a member of the AHS inspection team as the last scheduled activity at an inspection site. Outreach branding and mail-in registration options are also available for foals unable to attend a scheduled inspection. Please contact the AHS office at ahsoffice@aol.com for more information. Please note that branding is done at the owner’s discretion and is optional at all times.

H-US Brand: In use in the U.S. from 1993 through 2007, this brand marked foals of Main Studbook and Studbook dams. As part of the Fall 2007 referendum, the AHS membership voted by a two-thirds margin to retire this brand and use the Hanoverian H brand.

H Brand: Prior to 1993 this brand was used to mark North American-foaled HV Main Studbook and Studbook mares and foals. It is now used in Germany accompanied by the sixth and seventh digits of the horse’s Universal Equine Life Number (UELN).

H-11 Brand: To satisfy the Hanoverian Verband’s requirement of incorporating two digits from the life number into the brand, by joint agreement between the HV’s Executive Board and the AHS Board of Directors, 2008 was the first year the AHS utilized an H-08 brand. This system has been used going forward which means that 2011 foals were branded with H-11 and foals of 2012 will be branded with H-12.

Pre-Studbook Brand: This brand was formerly used on the left hip of foals whose dams were in the Pre-Studbook.

This brand was last used in 1993 on the left hip of foals whose dams are in the AHS Main Studbook or the Studbook.