In 2013, researchers from the University of Minnesota (UM) and the University of Kentucky (UK) collaborated to develop a Healthy Horse smartphone app designed to help owners better manage their horses’ weights. | Photo: iStock

Two years after its release, the app has been downloaded 1,800 times and includes seven classes or types of horses. The types range from Arabians to stock horses and draft horses to Warmbloods, with different breeds included in each type. While not all breeds are included, the group is working to include more breeds in the app.

“The app started as part of a larger equine metabolic study,” said Bob Coleman, PhD, PAS, an associate professor in UK’s Department of Animal and Food Sciences and extension horse specialist. “We were looking for a way to help horse owners gauge their horse’s current body weight but also to give some guidance on ideal body weight. Because the mathematics are very complicated, this led to the development of the app.”

Using the detailed diagram provided, horse owners can measure their horse and then enter those values into the app. The app then calculates the horse’s current body weight and estimates the ideal body weight. The owner can use those values to find reference point on what their horse should weigh, which is important information when determining the horse’s nutritional needs, especially during a time when equine obesity is on the rise