X-rays in my email, results on WhatsApp.
Why I created Equivo

Sound familiar? The vet stands in the stable, looks at the horse and asks simple questions. How long has this been going on? Has it happened before? When was the horse last dewormed, and with what? What medication did it get last time, and did it help?

And I stand there with my phone, scrolling. The X-rays are in an email from the clinic. Someone sent the blood results on WhatsApp. The rest is “who knows where” or in my head, and my head remembers everything “more or less”.

A notebook? Everyone has tried one at some point. The sheet of paper on the stable door gets wet, the pen goes missing, and after two weeks nobody knows who wrote what. Nobody wants to carry a notebook to the yard and back.

I have two horses. First came Bacteria, and a few years later Astra. With two horses it is no longer one history but two: each has its own medication, its own dates and its own “this has happened before”. And when you are constantly rushing about, it is the details that get lost first.

That is how Equivo came about. But before I talk about the app, I want to show why this is not about keeping your phone tidy, but about your horse's health. The research is very clear on this.

Memory is not a filing cabinet

In human medicine it is well known that we remember less from a doctor's appointment than we think. According to a review, patients immediately forget 40-80% of the information they are given, and almost half of what they do remember is incorrect[6].

With horses it is even harder. We hear recommendations on the go, in the stable, next to a horse that won't stand still. On top of that come the comments from the farrier, the physiotherapist, the trainer and the groom.

And it is not just about forgetting. In the UK, vets examined 200 randomly selected horses aged 15 or over and compared what they found with what the owners had reported. They found lameness in 50% of the horses, while the owners reported it in 23%. They found dental abnormalities in 95%, while the owners reported them in 25%[7]. The authors state plainly that such oversights can delay a visit to the vet.

Researchers have also counted what happens when the doctor is missing information. In 1,614 visits to family doctors in the USA, important information was missing in 13.6% of visits. In 59.5% of these cases, the gaps could have delayed treatment or led to additional tests[8]. With a horse, this might mean, for example, a repeat X-ray because nobody can find the previous one.

A horse can't tell you where it hurts

For thousands of years the horse was a prey animal. In that kind of life, it does not pay to show weakness. That is why the changes are usually small: a little less hay eaten, ears held differently, reluctance to turn in one direction.

Even an experienced eye sees only part of the picture. In one study, sensors measured the movement of horses in training that their owners considered healthy. Asymmetry does not always mean pain, but it shows how much escapes the eye.

Pain also shows in behaviour. The Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram describes 24 behaviours, including ears pinned back, repeated tail swishing and the tongue sticking out. In 150 horses with problems in work, vets removed the pain with diagnostic anaesthesia. The median number of these behaviours then fell from 9 to 2[9]. What we take for character or “an off day” can be pain.

Pain shows on the face too. The Horse Grimace Scale describes six changes: ears held stiffly backwards, a partly closed eye, tension above the eye, tense chewing muscles, a strained mouth with a pronounced chin and strained nostrils[10].

It is the same with body condition. We see our horse every day, so our eye gets used to the changes. In Ireland, 45% of 60 horses studied were overweight or obese. Owners of overweight horses underestimated their body condition, and three quarters of owners did not monitor it at all[12]. In Denmark, owners of Icelandic horses underestimated their horses' body condition more often than they overestimated it[13].

Owners recognise pain by the fact that their horse is behaving differently from usual[14]. To notice that, you need to know what is usual for that particular horse. And to have it written down, because “usual” recalled from memory shifts too.

A few minutes a day

The UK Code of Practice for the Welfare of Horses recommends checking a horse at grass at least once a day and a stabled horse at least twice a day. It says to pay particular attention to movement, behaviour, hooves, body condition and appetite, so that illness or injury is spotted early[15]. A daily check might look like this:

1. From the aisleBefore you open the stable door, watch for half a minute: how the horse is standing, where its ears are and whether it is interested in what is going on around it.
2. Manger and waterHow much hay and feed is left, and whether the horse is drinking as much as usual.
3. Droppings and urineHow much there is, what it looks like and whether there are as many droppings in the stable as usual.
4. Legs and hoovesRun your hand down the legs and check for heat, swelling or tenderness. Pick out the hooves.
5. Heart rate and temperatureTake them when something worries you. You will find the normal ranges below.

The Merck Veterinary Manual gives a resting heart rate of 28-40 beats per minute for an adult horse[16]. A Rutgers University guide gives a wider range of 28-48 beats per minute and a rectal temperature of 37.2-38.3 °C[17]. The upper limit of normal temperature is usually taken to be 38.5 °C, and temperature itself varies over the course of the day and with the season[18]. So take it at a similar time of day.

This is not knowledge that everyone has at their fingertips. In a survey of 1,564 horse owners, 45% gave the correct resting heart rate and 67% the correct temperature[19]. The textbook figures are a wide range anyway. What matters most is your own horse's normal, measured several times on ordinary, calm days.

History matters

The vet asks about the past because it really does change the risk.

Laminitis likes to come back. A British web-based study followed 1,070 horses and ponies. A previous episode of laminitis not diagnosed by a vet increased the risk of another one 4.5-fold, and weight gain 2.3-fold[3]. In another study, in 45% of vet-confirmed cases of laminitis the owner did not recognise it as laminitis. They had called the vet out for lameness, a hoof abscess, colic or stiffness[20].

So does colic. In a British study, there were 50 recurrences per 100 horse-years of observation after an episode of colic[22]. A review lists previous colic as a risk factor in seven studies. Among management-related factors, the strongest evidence concerns changes in feed and housing in the two weeks before colic[4]. That is why it is worth recording not only illnesses, but also new hay, a move to a new yard or a change of paddock.

With colic, time matters. At a Canadian referral hospital, horses brought in 12-36 hours after the first signs had almost three times the odds of dying compared with those brought in within the first 12 hours[23]. Yet in a survey only 42% of horse owners would call the vet if their horse was not eating[19].

Deworming by results, not by the calendar. The guidelines of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) recommend deworming based on faecal egg counts, rather than at fixed intervals all year round[24]. The reason is simple: in more than 58,000 faecal egg counts from the USA, just 18% of horses were responsible for 80% of the eggs shed[25]. In an adult horse this level is fairly stable: a horse with two consecutive zero results had an 82% chance of another zero[5]. Without recorded results this knowledge is lost, while parasite resistance to dewormers keeps growing[26]. In an Australian survey, one in five owners could not say what they had last used to deworm their horse[27].

Vaccinations with dates. For horses competing at FEI events, even the day counts: a horse must have been vaccinated against equine influenza no more than 6 months and 21 days before arriving at the event[28].

X-rays in my email, results on WhatsApp

For years, this is what it looked like for me: X-rays in an email from the clinic, blood results on WhatsApp, the rest “who knows where”. Each of these things was fine on its own. Together they did not add up to a history, and a history is exactly what the vet needs.

That is why in Equivo every visit has a health card: diagnosis, medication, recommendations and the date of the next check-up. Files from tests, such as X-rays, ultrasound scans or blood results, go into Medical documents, sorted into folders by type of test. When the vet asks when the last X-ray was, you open the X-ray folder, not your inbox.

Several horses, several people, one history

A single horse often has several people around it: the owner, the groom, the trainer, the farrier, the physiotherapist and sometimes a co-owner. In the UK, around 60% of leisure horses are kept at livery yards. There, the yard manager decides on turnout and stabling, and sometimes also on feed, on which professionals may visit and on veterinary care[29]. When colic is suspected, owners also ask experienced people at the yard for advice, and that advice influences the decision to call the vet[30].

The Code of Practice points out that the owner remains responsible for the horse even when someone else is looking after it. Anyone leaving their horse in someone else's care should leave written instructions and have the vet's contact details to hand, including out of hours[15].

Simple reminders help too. In a review of 75 studies, vaccination reminders (phone call, letter, text message) increased vaccination rates by about 8 percentage points[31]. A text message before an appointment raised attendance from 68% to 79%[32]. These are studies in people, but the cause is the same: we forget.

In Equivo you can share a horse with a co-owner, a rider or someone covering for you. You choose which sections they see and decide whether they can add entries. Your vet, farrier and trainer are in My team, with their numbers to hand. The Calendar reminds you about the farrier, vaccinations and deworming before they are due. And when you go away, you can prepare a PDF sheet for the person who will look after your horses.

Why I created Equivo

Equivo was not born at a desk over a spreadsheet. It was born in the stable, from the question “since when?”, which I answered far too often with “since Tuesday, I think”.

I wanted one place with everything in it: daily observation, visits, medication, X-rays, blood results, dates and the people who help with the horse. One I always have with me, because I carry my phone in my pocket anyway, and a notebook I don't.

Equivo will not replace the vet and is not meant to. It is meant to make sure that when the vet asks “since when?”, the answer is on your phone, with a date.

A horse can't tell you where it hurts. Its history can, if someone writes it down. Start with one thing: tomorrow morning, write down how your horse is eating, drinking and behaving. In a month, you will see its normal.

Vets, trainers, physiotherapists, horse owners and riders all took part in creating this app. The recommendations you will find in the app are based on numerous consultations with a vet. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them warmly for their time, work and knowledge ❤️

With love for horses,
Natalia

Frequently asked questions

Scientific sources

We checked every publication in the Crossref and PubMed databases. The numbers in the text link to the list, and the DOI links lead to the original articles.

1. Laws MB, Lee Y, Taubin T, Rogers WH, Wilson IB. Factors associated with patient recall of key information in ambulatory specialty care visits: Results of an innovative methodology. PLOS ONE. 2018;13(2):e0191940. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0191940
2. Rhodin M, Egenvall A, Haubro Andersen P, Pfau T. Head and pelvic movement asymmetries at trot in riding horses in training and perceived as free from lameness by the owner. PLOS ONE. 2017;12(4):e0176253. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0176253
3. Pollard D, Wylie CE, Verheyen KLP, Newton JR. Identification of modifiable factors associated with owner-reported equine laminitis in Britain using a web-based cohort study approach. BMC Veterinary Research. 2019;15(1):59. doi.org/10.1186/s12917-019-1798-8
4. Curtis L, Burford JH, England GCW, Freeman SL. Risk factors for acute abdominal pain (colic) in the adult horse: A scoping review of risk factors, and a systematic review of the effect of management-related changes. PLOS ONE. 2019;14(7):e0219307. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0219307
5. Nielsen MK, Haaning N, Olsen SN. Strongyle egg shedding consistency in horses on farms using selective therapy in Denmark. Veterinary Parasitology. 2006;135(3-4):333-335. doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2005.09.010
6. Kessels RPC. Patients' memory for medical information. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 2003;96(5):219-222. doi.org/10.1258/jrsm.96.5.219
7. Ireland JL, Clegg PD, McGowan CM, McKane SA, Chandler KJ, Pinchbeck GL. Comparison of owner-reported health problems with veterinary assessment of geriatric horses in the United Kingdom. Equine Veterinary Journal. 2012;44(1):94-100. doi.org/10.1111/j.2042-3306.2011.00394.x
8. Smith PC, Araya-Guerra R, Bublitz C, Parnes B, Dickinson LM, Van Vorst R, et al. Missing Clinical Information During Primary Care Visits. JAMA. 2005;293(5):565-571. doi.org/10.1001/jama.293.5.565
9. Dyson S, Pollard D. Application of the Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram to 150 Horses with Musculoskeletal Pain before and after Diagnostic Anaesthesia. Animals. 2023;13(12):1940. doi.org/10.3390/ani13121940
10. Dalla Costa E, Minero M, Lebelt D, Stucke D, Canali E, Leach MC. Development of the Horse Grimace Scale (HGS) as a Pain Assessment Tool in Horses Undergoing Routine Castration. PLOS ONE. 2014;9(3):e92281. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0092281
11. Torcivia C, McDonnell S. In-Person Caretaker Visits Disrupt Ongoing Discomfort Behavior in Hospitalized Equine Orthopedic Surgical Patients. Animals. 2020;10(2):210. doi.org/10.3390/ani10020210
12. Golding E, Al Ansari ASA, Sutton GA, Walshe N, Duggan V. Rate of obesity within a mixed-breed group of horses in Ireland and their owners’ perceptions of body condition and useability of an equine body condition scoring scale. Irish Veterinary Journal. 2023;76(1):9. doi.org/10.1186/s13620-023-00237-w
13. Jensen RB, Danielsen SH, Tauson AH. Body condition score, morphometric measurements and estimation of body weight in mature Icelandic horses in Denmark. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica. 2016;58(Suppl 1):59. doi.org/10.1186/s13028-016-0240-5
14. Smith R, Perkins L, Pinchbeck G, Ireland J. Owners’ everyday interactions with their horse: Pain-related issues and those of veterinary concern. Animal Welfare. 2025;34:e62. doi.org/10.1017/awf.2025.10036
15. Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra). Code of Practice for the Welfare of Horses, Ponies, Donkeys and their Hybrids. 2018. www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-practice-for-the-welfare-of-horses-ponies-donkeys-and-their-hybrids
16. Table: Resting Heart Rates. Merck Veterinary Manual. www.merckvetmanual.com/multimedia/table/resting-heart-rates
17. Liburt N, Malinowski K, Williams C. Measuring Temperature, Pulse, & Respiration (TPR): What's Normal for My Horse? (FS1262). Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. 2016. njaes.rutgers.edu/fs1262
18. Kang H, Zsoldos RR, Sole-Guitart A, Narayan E, Cawdell-Smith AJ, Gaughan JB. Heat stress in horses: a literature review. International Journal of Biometeorology. 2023;67(6):957-973. doi.org/10.1007/s00484-023-02467-7
19. Bowden A, Burford JH, Brennan ML, England GCW, Freeman SL. Horse owners’ knowledge, and opinions on recognising colic in the horse. Equine Veterinary Journal. 2020;52(2):262-267. doi.org/10.1111/evj.13173
20. Pollard D, Wylie CE, Verheyen KLP, Newton JR. Assessment of horse owners’ ability to recognise equine laminitis: A cross-sectional study of 93 veterinary diagnosed cases in Great Britain. Equine Veterinary Journal. 2017;49(6):759-766. doi.org/10.1111/evj.12704
21. Pollard D, Wylie CE, Newton JR, Verheyen KLP. Incidence and clinical signs of owner-reported equine laminitis in a cohort of horses and ponies in Great Britain. Equine Veterinary Journal. 2019;51(5):587-594. doi.org/10.1111/evj.13059
22. Scantlebury CE, Archer DC, Proudman CJ, Pinchbeck GL. Recurrent colic in the horse: Incidence and risk factors for recurrence in the general practice population. Equine Veterinary Journal. 2011;43(Suppl 39):81-88. doi.org/10.1111/j.2042-3306.2011.00383.x
23. Kaufman JM, Nekouei O, Doyle AJ, Biermann NM. Clinical findings, diagnoses, and outcomes of horses presented for colic to a referral hospital in Atlantic Canada (2000-2015). Canadian Veterinary Journal. 2020;61(3):281-288. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7020639
24. American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP). AAEP Internal Parasite Control Guidelines. 2024. aaep.org/resource/internal-parasite-control-guidelines
25. Nielsen MK, Slusarewicz P, Kuzmina TA, Denwood MJ. US-wide equine strongylid egg count data demonstrate seasonal and regional trends. Parasitology. 2024;151(6):579-586. doi.org/10.1017/s0031182024000489
26. Nielsen MK. Anthelmintic resistance in equine nematodes: Current status and emerging trends. International Journal for Parasitology: Drugs and Drug Resistance. 2022;20:76-88. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpddr.2022.10.005
27. Nixon W, Buckley P, Butler R. Parasite management practices used by owners of Australian Pony Club horses and the factors influencing their decision-making processes. Australian Veterinary Journal. 2026;104(5):305-310. doi.org/10.1111/avj.70064
28. Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI). Vaccinations. inside.fei.org/node/3289
29. Furtado T, Perkins E, McGowan C, Pinchbeck G. Equine Management in UK Livery Yards during the COVID-19 Pandemic - “As Long As the Horses Are Happy, We Can Work Out the Rest Later”. Animals. 2021;11(5):1416. doi.org/10.3390/ani11051416
30. Scantlebury CE, Perkins E, Pinchbeck GL, Archer DC, Christley RM. Could it be colic? Horse-owner decision making and practices in response to equine colic. BMC Veterinary Research. 2014;10(Suppl 1):S1. doi.org/10.1186/1746-6148-10-s1-s1
31. Jacobson Vann JC, Jacobson RM, Coyne-Beasley T, Asafu-Adjei JK, Szilagyi PG. Patient reminder and recall interventions to improve immunization rates. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2018;(1):CD003941. doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd003941.pub3
32. Gurol-Urganci I, de Jongh T, Vodopivec-Jamsek V, Atun R, Car J. Mobile phone messaging reminders for attendance at healthcare appointments. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2013;(12):CD007458. doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd007458.pub3

Published 28 October 2026. This article is for educational purposes and does not replace an examination by a vet.