Equine Tattoo Research

Horses that race at tracks in the United States are given a tattoo on the inside of their upper lip (facing their teeth). It can be viewed by pulling the horse’s lip up with your fingers. Tattoos tend to fade with age and may be easier to read at night with a black light. You can also try taking a digital picture and enhancing the contrast to make the tattoo more legible. A racing tattoo provides a way to positively identify any horse. To find information on different tattoos:

Thoroughbreds:

You can initiate a tattoo trace with the Jockey Club and this no longer costs anything as of April 2009!. Or you can try the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau, which is $50 but they will refund your money if they are unable to identify your horse.

The first letter of the tattoo will tell you your Thoroughbred’s year of birth.

A – 1997	H – 1978 or 2004	O – 1985	V – 1992
B – 1998	I – 1979 or 2005	P – 1986	W – 1993
C – 1999	J – 1980 or 2006	Q – 1987	X – 1994
D – 2000	K – 1981 or 2007	R – 1988	Y – 1995
E – 2001	L – 1982 or 2008	S – 1989	Z – 1996
F – 2002	M – 1983	T – 1990
G – 2003	N – 1984	U – 1991

Once you have your horse’s registered name, there are various services that can give you your Thoroughbred’s race record. The TRPB can do that and you can also order it from Equineline. Another free resource for pedigree information is Pedigree Query (for Thoroughbreds only) and All Breed Pedigree (for all breeds). Note that the information on these sites is user-submitted and is not always 100% accurate but it’s a good place to start.

Quarter Horses:

Quarter Horses who have raced also have a lip tattoo; however, AQHA will give you the information for free! Just write it down and call it in at 1-806-376-4811. Quarter Horse tattoos have the letter at the end which is helpful if you’re trying to figure out whether your rescue horse is a Thoroughbred or a Quarter Horse. Once you have determined that you have a racing Quarter Horse, AQHA can provide you with all of the information you need about its pedigree and production record (there are fees for that information but you can sign up and get it online).

Standardbreds:

Standardbred tattoos have either a letter and four numbers or two letters and three numbers. You can look them up online for free at this link. The U.S. Trotting Association will be happy to tell you about your horse’s race record and production record for a fee.

Like Thoroughbreds, the first letter shows you the year of birth:

A – 1982 or 2003	H – 1989	R – 1996
B – 1983 or 2004	J – 1990	S – 1997
C – 1984 or 2005	K – 1991	T – 1998
D – 1985 or 2006	L – 1992	V – 1999
E – 1986 or 2007	M – 1993	W – 2000
F – 1987	N – 1994	X – 2001
G – 1988	P – 1995	Z – 2002

Arabians:

Yes, Arabians that race are also lip tattooed! The TRPB will be happy to help you ID your off-the-track Arabian.

Appaloosas:

Some Appaloosas also have a lip tattoo that is their actual registration numbers. This does not mean that they have been raced. See appaloosa.com for more information on Appaloosa tattoos.

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