Equine Night Check Could Revolutionize Horse Care

Credit: Equine Night Check Photo The device can be placed on a neck collar or on a specialized halter and can alert owners to ill horses.

We recently learned about a product in its final stages of development that could greatly reduce our stress. Hamilton Biovet has developed the Equine Night Check. Billed as the “world’s first remote signal from a horse in distress,” it will detect warning signs of colic, a cast horse, a rise in temperature and/or heart rate, and most cases of acute laminitis, explained Meg Hamilton, a warmblood breeder.

Hamilton is CEO and president of Hamilton BioVet, the company developing the product. A sport-horse breeder, she was motivated by losing a favorite horse to colic, and by seeing horses afflicted by laminitis or being injured due to becoming cast in a stall. So she put her background in the development of electronic and image-analysis products to work. The product is now being in its final stages, soon to be tested by veterinary schools and other equine experts.

The Equine Night Check – measuring 2 3/4″ x 1 1/2″ – can be placed on a special halter or neck strap, which have breakaway points in the odd event that the horse gets hung up in it.

Its sensors can detect fluctuations in the horse’s body temperature and heart rate. Like some of the human wrist-mounted motion detectors, it can tell the difference in the horse’s movement, distinguishing between a horse biting at a fly on its flank or looking back at its belly due to colic pain.

The Night Check device on the horse sends radio signals to an intercellular connection that plugs into any electrical outlet and rings the telephone of the designated person, such as the owner, to get the person’s attention. It then sends a text message about what it has detected. It does not require Internet, but the user will need a cellular phone capable of accepting text messages. The range of the Night Check signal to the intercellular connector is about one mile, so that horses can be in nearby paddocks

It is expected to retail for under $500. Release date is tentatively June 2015.

The company is accepting investors through November 29, as it needs more funding to complete some expensive processes to finalize the project. Click here to learn more.

Hamilton BioVet is a new company and a manufacturer of innovative products for veterinarian and equine professionals.

www.hamiltonbiovet.com

include video: http://youtu.be/f64f5d5-KOY

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