Maddy has a "Hart" freeze brand on her left shoulder. Freeze brands have become popular because they are simple to do and relatively painless. An iron is put in liquid nitrogen and chilled to -300 degrees and the area to be branded is shaved. The amount of time you hold the branding iron on the skin is determined by the horses color. For Maddy, it was probably 12 seconds. Darker horses need about 8 seconds. The cold temperature destroys the color follicles and the hair will grow back white. Maddys brand looks like they didn't hold it long enough, therefore the streaked, darker appearance. They were probably going for a "bald" brand which shows up better on lighter horses. I am happy they didn't achieve that and she still has all her hair.
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