Horse log app - BRAND NEW

(A month ago I was asked by the creators of this app to test it for them and then create a blog on how I found it. Below you will see my honest opinions of the app and my rating.)


The clever horse management application

Have you wondered how much you spend on competitions each month? Or maybe how much feed for your horse costs? Has someone asked how you did at a particular show and you cannot remember?

Well, don't worry. There is now an app on the market that can keep a record of all of this for you at just the touch of a button.

Horselog will easily answer any query you have about your horse (providing you have previously entered the information) which will in turn make your life much easier.

It will enable you to keep a track of health, competitions and budget, plus much more!

You can:
* Manage as many horses as you wish -  Which makes this app great for livery yard owners or those who own more than one horse!
* Horse ID card -  This includes a picture of your horse, breed, colour, birth date, sex, activities, plus more.
* Competitions -  This section allows you to keep up to date with current, past and future events, results and earnings.
* Reminders - Set reminders for things like booster injections, dates the farrier is due and lots more.
* Budget - This section includes categories that will enable you to record all your expenses.
* Checklist - Be on top of everything with a helpful checklist that allows you to remember what to pack for your next event.
* Reports - View budget reports that let you know exactly what you're spending per year, month and per horse.

That's right, this app does all that; including more!

How do I rate this app?

When I initially created an account on this app for Ceaser I was struck to find that there wasn't an option to choose his colour as being skewbald, in stead I was offered a Tobiano or Splash coloured pony. I soon noticed there wasn't many English colours offered so hopefully as this app becomes more popular the creators will add these colours on to cater more for the English owner as well.

I also downloaded the app on my iPad so the screen was only small. This really didn't affect the use of the app though and I still managed to navigate my way around clearly enough.

I liked the idea that I could add a photo of my horse to put on its 'ID card'. I can imagine this will be very useful for those that have a number of horses to input on to the app and especially helpful for livery yard owners who may not input the horses full name.

The ID card allows you to input the horses name, age, date of birth and colour. Below this you also have the option to input what activities you participate in with your horse and then any notes you may wish to add.

With a pony that is allergic to a form of antibiotics; Oxytetracycline, I have to make all vets aware that deal with my pony aware that he is. This app enables me to keep this information on Ceaser's notes section so I always have the name of the antibiotics to hand in case I need to let vets know should he need antibiotics intravenously.

What does the app offer?

Once you have created your ID card for your horse you are then given the option to choose from three categories to input information to.
This is the Health, Competitions and Budget sections that you then click into and it splits all your information up.

The Health section gives you options to put in when the farrier is due, as well as vaccinations, the dentist, osteopath and worming. At the bottom you can also in put data about other varied vet costs. I can presume this will mean something like your horse being treated for an abscess or minor injury. On the individual sections you again can also put in extra notes to yourself that you may need to remember next time the farrier is there for example.

So, I have put into my notes section for the farrier that I need to remember next time he comes to shoe Ceaser I don't want quarter clips on his front feet for showing purposes. If you remove the quarter clips for showing it makes the horses feet look a lot neater and my farrier is a huge believer in this.

For people that have a lot of horses (like myself) and also lead busy lives, this is fantastic for them to write notes and ideas down that they may need to discuss with their farrier next time he is around. In stead of pulling out a notebook or trying to remember what you wanted to say, simply pull your iPhone out next time the farrier is around, click on the Horselog app and have a look what you needed to remember. It seems to make life much simpler and again is a fantastic idea for busy horse owners.

The competitions part of the app soon reminded me this app wasn't exactly completely developed for the English rider yet when I wanted to choose what type of competition I was participating in. There wasn't an option to choose "Showing" so I had to go with Dressage. Again, this wasn't a problem for myself as I knew what I meant. I did think it was good that you can in put all the shows you have coming up and the app automatically puts what is booked into categories. For example you will have all your dressage events in one categories, then show jumping and so on.

When creating an event that you are attending you can also in put when the show is, where, the time it starts and how much you have to pay or have paid to enter. If you have paid then you click the option that you have and it will add that amount of money to your overall expenditure. This is a great way to see what you are spending on competitions either monthly or weekly in order for you to keep a record.

Once you click out of the upcoming category and are in the overall competitions tab you are shown what competition is coming next, what it is and the date. Below that you are then given registration deadlines that you have coming up. So, for example if you're a member of British Dressage and the British Show Jumping Association and maybe the Side Saddle Association and your membership is coming to an end then it will appear below the 'next registration deadline' and let you know the deadline for renewing membership.


Next is the budget section of the app. Here you are able to see a break down of exactly what you are spending on your horse throughout the month and year. If you also wish to you can see what you spent last year and compare it to this year. At the bottom of the screen you can see whether you are losing money owning your horse or earning money. I am sure for most riders you're losing money, but for the serious competitors they will be able to use this to see what prize money they are bringing in per month and then what they are spending. For the less serious competitors and owners they will more than likely use this bit of the app to see simply what money they are spending on their horse per calendar month.

So?

Overall I really do like this app. Yes, there's a few more finishing touches they could do to make it more user friendly for the English horse owners but at the end of the day it does what we require. It saves people like myself saving receipts for feed, competitions and the farrier etc. In stead you can simply get your iPhone out, in put the data you require it to remember and at the touch of a button you can review expenditure, competition dates and so much more.

As I said earlier I feel this app would be perfect for owners that have more than one horse, especially livery yard owners that need to remember all the individual needs of several various horses. No longer do you have to worry about remembering any information, so long as you remember to input it in to your Horselog app then you can view it at any time.

This app is even more brilliant because you don't need WiFi to use it. Once you have downloaded it, you can use it wherever you are or wherever you go.

"For only £1.99 on the iTunes store, this app in my opinion is well worth it. Save yourself time, money and storage space by having all the information you need, simply, in your pocket. A simple MUST have for all equine owners."

This app is compatible with the following: iPhone 3GS, iPhone4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later. 

The size of the app is 1.1MB so it really doesn't use a lot of storage.

I rate: 7/10 - Would be 9/10 if I could have the option to select 'Showing' and 'Skewbald' but I am sure this will come soon as the app becomes more popular. Also, it would be nice for those who don't have an iPhone to be able to use it. It would be good for the developers to make it also available on Android and other platforms.

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Labels: american horses , dressage , equestrian , equine antibiotics , equine vaccinations , Horselog app , horselog itunes , horses , itunes , mud fever , olympics , pony , Pony Club , show jumping