6 equestrian apps every horse owner needs to try

Have you ever given equestrian apps much thought? As horse owners and riders, we all know we can use our phone to take photos of our four-legged pride and joy, but there’s so much more we can tap into. There are apps to help you with your training, track your riding, keep you safe, and some just for fun, too. There are so many to try out, but here are our top horsey apps to get you started.

1. Equilab Equestrian Tracker

In a nutshell: This app can help you track your training and progress, as well as organise your horsey life – vet and farrier visits, lessons and yard activities – on one calendar. You can track your hacks and share your live position with your family or yard friends to give you all peace of mind.

With a massive user base, you can share your progress with the community and invite your own horsey friends to join. Petplan Equine ambassador Juliette Edmonds tried it out and says: “'This is a great tool to help track progress in fitness and performance through the season.”

Available on: App Store (free, rated 4.8) and Google Play (free, rated 4.0)

2. Equus Note

In a nutshell: If you’re at all disorganised, forgetful or you’ve just got a lot of things to juggle (most of us!) then this app could help you keep track of everything. In one place, you can record what you did in your riding sessions, conversations with your vet, tips from your trainer or special moments with your horse.

It can even help you connect issues, like changes in your horse’s weight after adjusting their feed the previous month. It has a handy search function too.

Available on: App Store (free, rated 4.4)

3. What3Words

In a nutshell: This app is getting attention from all sorts of people at the moment – and for good reason. It turns your GPS location (exact to a 3x3m square) into a three-word address that anyone with access to the internet can use to determine your location. This can be really useful if you need to give a precise location to the emergency services or if you want to meet your friend for a hack in the woods where it’s hard to give directions.

Whatever the scenario, you can use the app to tell others where you are quickly, easily and accurately.

Available on: App Store (free, rated 4.8) and Google Play (free, rated 4.1)

4. Horse Side Vet Guide

In a nutshell: This app has thousands of pages of essential equestrian information, illustrations and videos that you can access without the internet. You can use it in emergency and non-emergency situations to help you make the best decision for your horse.

It’s not a substitute for your vet, but it contains practical advice, suggested skills to learn and questions to ask your vet. Plus, it’s much more reliable than a quick Google search.

Available on: App Store (£4.99, rated 4.5) and Google Play (£3.04, rated 4.5)

5. TestPro British Dressage

In a nutshell: Whatever your learning style, you can use this app to learn your tests and expand your dressage training knowledge. Use your finger to draw the movements, listen to the test or watch it through – it’s up to you. Being on your phone, it’s always on hand so there’ll be no more scrabbling around for your test sheets and you don’t need an internet connection to access your downloaded tests.

TestPro British Dressage includes all the current BD tests. But there are several editions of the app available for riders competing in other countries or under different governing bodies. For example, TestPro British Eventing includes all the current BD and FEI eventing tests and TestPro IE has all tests from Dressage Ireland.

The app is free to download, but you’ll need to pay monthly or yearly for access to the tests – from £0.99/month.

Available on: App Store (free, rated 4.7) and Google Play (free, rated 4.9)

6. EquiRatings Eventing Manager

In a nutshell: Think Fantasy Football but for equestrians — this app is a great way to get your eventing fix during the off-season or while you’re not training. Use the stats provided to select the horse and rider combinations for your eventing team, then create a league with friends or join one that already exists. You’ve got $10m game bucks to invest in your team, but you need to choose wisely because the more popular a combination becomes, the more expensive they’ll be.

Real-life outcomes will determine your score – will your team slump or shine during the next eventing season?

Available on: App Store (free, rated 4.9) and Google Play (free, rated 4.7)