New App Helps Horse Owners Monitor Vital Health Data

Equine Guelph’s Horse Health Tracker app is available as a free download

GUELPH, Ontario  June 3, 2015 - atGuelph - As with most animals, it can be difficult to tell if a horse is feeling ill, and horse owners sometimes worry they might be missing the early signs of a health problem.

Equine Guelph’s new Horse Health Tracker app can help. Available as a free download, it allows owners to monitor the vital health data of up to two horses, as well as evaluate the body condition of their horse and calculate the animal’s weight. An upgraded version with additional features is available for a fee.

Since debuting in April, the app has been downloaded more than 1,000 times.

Sharon Quarrington, a horse owner who also boards horses on her farm near Campbellville, Ont., and offers several horse educational programs, likes the convenience of the app.

“Having all the health parameters at my fingertips with pictures and videos showing me how to do the check and what is normal or not is wonderful,” she says. Before downloading the Horse Health Tracker app, she had to record health information on a piece of paper, which could be lost or misplaced, and was difficult to share with her veterinarian.

Upgrade features include the ability to monitor information such as heart rate, temperature and respiration of up to 50 horses, and track this data over 13 months. Instructional videos show how to properly perform health assessments, and the upgraded app allows owners to share the data with healthcare professionals by email. Owners can also create custom profiles for each horse and sync healthcare appointment reminders with their smartphone calendars.

“This scheduler app is great,” says Quarrington. “It is so easy to lose track of when a horse is due for the farrier or the vet.”

Gayle Ecker, director of Equine Guelph, says the app is a “must-have management tool for every educated horse person.” It is available from both the Apple App Store and Google Play.