If a horse is stolen, the hours afterward run on whatever identification you already have. Memory blurs, a description written in panic is thin, and a horse can be moved, clipped or sold on quickly. The record that holds up is a complete set made in calm times: photographs from both sides, front and back, close-ups of every marking, and a marking diagram drawn with the marks placed — kept together, current, and ready to hand over in minutes.
Photographs From Every Side
Photograph him standing square on level ground, coat clean and dry, in even light without harsh shadow. Take full-body photographs from both sides, front and back: both sides because markings are rarely symmetrical and a thief presents whichever side was not described; front and back because chestnuts, face markings, hind socks and tail carriage are read from those angles. Keep the background plain and the whole horse in frame, then repeat the set at a second distance so his proportions and build are clear as well as his outline. Take the set again as his coat changes — a winter coat hides what a summer coat shows, and a gray horse's markings shift as he grays — so the record always resembles the horse someone would actually see in a yard or a sale ring.
Close-Ups of Markings, Whorls, Scars and Brand
Then photograph the details a general view misses: close-ups of markings, whorls, scars and any brand. Face markings first — star, stripe, snip, each photographed straight on — then leg markings at each corner, photographed low, since a sock's top edge is a fingerprint-grade detail. Whorls, the swirls where hair direction changes, are nearly unique to the individual horse and stay constant when coats change, so capture the whorls on his face, neck and flanks clearly. Photograph scars, old injuries, a freeze brand or any applied brand the same way, with a hand or a coin in one frame for scale. Write one line beside each close-up saying what it shows and where, while you still remember exactly which leg you were kneeling beside.
The Marking Diagram, Drawn With Marks Placed
Draw a marking diagram on a standard horse outline — both sides, front and back views — with the marks placed where they sit on him: face markings drawn in, leg markings shaded to their true height, whorls marked as small circles, scars and brands noted at their positions. The diagram earns its place because one drawn view gathers what a folder of photographs keeps apart, and a person scanning a yard of similar horses can work from it at a glance. Draw it from the photographs and from the horse in front of you, not from memory, and redraw it when you retake the photographs, so diagram and pictures never tell two different stories about the same horse.
The Chip Rule, and Who Gets the Record
His owner's private record may hold the chip number — keep it with this set, because police, insurer and vet will ask for it — but the number is never published or posted publicly. If he is stolen, the record goes to police, insurer and vet in full, chip number included, through direct handover. A public appeal, by contrast, describes markings and photographs, never the chip number: published, the number can be misused or claimed by the wrong person, while markings and photographs let the public do the one useful thing — recognize the horse and call. His whole identification packet is filed on KinsLe under his Pet Passport record, while the chip number itself stays private there and out of every public appeal.