Orscana Horse Sensor

E

Elf On A Shelf

...
Joined
28 February 2011
Messages
16,446
Visit site
An advert for this device has just cropped up on my fb timeline. Reading the brief blurb I was intrigued. The image made it look like a rug but it's not. It's a wee gadget that you hang on the inside of your horses rug and it monitors how warm they are and when they move. You can track your horse 24/7 which also means they need to wear a rug 24/7.

This device will tell you what sort of rug your horse needs and predicts what it will need in the hours to come by looking at the weather forecast digitally. If your horse is too hot or too cold it will send you a message through the app to tell you to go change rugs.

It's revolutionary! It sorts out your tugging system for you! No more second guessing the weather!

Personally I think it is a fantastically expensive piece of kit that will sell well to Muppets with more money than sense but is essentially useless!
 
Me to, I didn't see the price but it's probably very expensive. If you have access to the internet it's not hard to check the weather forecast!
 
What they don't make particularly obvious is that your phone also needs to be in range of the sensor. So if you're that close, you can check the horse yourself anyway... :P
 
It's £90 to buy plus you need a decent spec if phone to deal with the app and yes you need to be near enough to it to get a reading from it lol! The things people come up with!
 
And if you a a rug for rain sort of person your horse would be naked if it was good weather so the sensor wouldn't be there to tell you it was about to pee down/get cold. But I expect they'll sell some...
 
Landcruiser said:
And if you a a rug for rain sort of person your horse would be naked if it was good weather so the sensor wouldn't be there to tell you it was about to pee down/get cold. But I expect they'll sell some...
Click to expand...

I saw it on H&C when they did the thing on the trade show and new products. It's a fairly niche product for people who have their horses within a specific radius of their home, but can't be arsed to leave the house to check on them...or maybe their staff have the night off :P

OK, I'm being facetious :P I think they were trying to push it as a time saving gadget for full livery yard/stud owners - so that where they have multiple horses under their care, they don't have to go and physically check under the rug. Still not sure it's gonna fly though... rugs aren't the only things that need checking!
 
Hi EKW, I guess that I am a muppet then though I can assure you I don't have more money than sense. Thermoregulation of horses is a subject that has far reaching effects and poses serious health issues if you don't get your rug regime right not just in the stable but pre and post excercise not to mention travelling. As you say in one of your posts "Well they can't talk to us and tell us", I would agree. I use Orscana for exactly that reason.
It is far from useless. I have worked with horses most of my life, being open to technology that provides accurate information and data based on tested scientific algorithms, that allows people to better manage their horses health, in my opinion, is progress.
 
Hi SpottyMare, I don't know about you but I cannot accurately measure to the degree, the heat and moisture underneath my horse's rugs. The heat is driven from the hind gut and their thermoregulation rates are far different to ours plus are breed and individual specific. The old wives tale of feeling their ears is poppycock. Far from being lazy, I check my horses at 10 every night, skipping out, feeding and yes I use the app to ensure that my rugging decision at 6.30 was correct.
Personally, if I can avoid colic, electrolyte imbalances, muscle atrophy, hollowness, posture issues, respiratory issues, heat stress, minimise injuries, regulate core temperature and a whole heap more by using technology then count me in.
 
Hi All on this thread,

I wouldn't be without my Horse Health Sensor, it takes the guess work out of not only rugging, but also how active he is during the day and night, how much rest he's had, be it standing or lying and if anything has upset him. It's so much more than knowing how hot or cold he is. (Just as a little test, make one of your hands warm and the other cold and then rest both hands on your horse’s side just in front of the hip in the little dip. Your horse will probably feel warmer under your cold hand and cooler under your warm hand.) This is why having the sensor tells me for sure what temperature my horse is, rather than guessing and just because we are cold, doesn't mean our horse is. Plus, all the information is updated to my phone when I am near him.

Also since using the sensor, my horse is so much happier, this is because I am no longer over rugging him (he is a lot warmer than I thought). The sensor has made a huge difference to my horse’s life and mine. If you are OCD or a worrier about rugging or knowing what your horse gets up to 24/7, then do what I have and get a Horse Health Sensor, damn glad I did. Hope this helps a little bit. :-)
 
JustHorsingAbout said:
Personally, if I can avoid colic, electrolyte imbalances, muscle atrophy, hollowness, posture issues, respiratory issues, heat stress, minimise injuries, regulate core temperature and a whole heap more by using technology then count me in.
Click to expand...

Really? Unless you have studies that prove that this sensor can prevent all this, then I suspect this is false advertising...and you've made yourself look completely ridiculous at the same time. I'm surprised anyone rugs at all if it's that dangerous... And what an amazing coincidence that two completely new posters are raving about a new gadget in what reads like the same marketing speak... :D

Funnily enough, I'm enough of a horsewoman to have a pretty good idea of what my horses need, and no, I don't check the ears either. I take account of a number of things. But each to their own, and if you'd rather rely on a gadget than your own eyes, ears and sense of what makes your horse comfortable then go ahead.

I'm open to useful technology that serves a purpose - in fact I work with tech so I tend not to fall for over hyped tat - and this serves absolutely no purpose to me at all.
 
I love how some of the respondents have posted only on this thread. That really makes you think it's an independant person not the company behind the pro posts hey :D
 
I am the person for whom the expression "all the gear and no idea" was invented and I am a sucker for new and innovative products, especially if they might make my precious horse slightly happier in any way. But even I don't feel the need to own one of these.
 
JustHorsingAbout said:
Hi EKW, I guess that I am a muppet then though I can assure you I don't have more money than sense. Thermoregulation of horses is a subject that has far reaching effects and poses serious health issues if you don't get your rug regime right not just in the stable but pre and post excercise not to mention travelling. As you say in one of your posts "Well they can't talk to us and tell us", I would agree. I use Orscana for exactly that reason.
It is far from useless. I have worked with horses most of my life, being open to technology that provides accurate information and data based on tested scientific algorithms, that allows people to better manage their horses health, in my opinion, is progress.
Click to expand...

It's official. You're a Muppet :D

Though I strongly suspect that you have financial links to the company that makes it. Care to declare?
 
DancerUK said:
Hi All on this thread,

I wouldn't be without my Horse Health Sensor, it takes the guess work out of not only rugging, but also how active he is during the day and night, how much rest he's had, be it standing or lying and if anything has upset him. It's so much more than knowing how hot or cold he is. (Just as a little test, make one of your hands warm and the other cold and then rest both hands on your horse’s side just in front of the hip in the little dip. Your horse will probably feel warmer under your cold hand and cooler under your warm hand.) This is why having the sensor tells me for sure what temperature my horse is, rather than guessing and just because we are cold, doesn't mean our horse is. Plus, all the information is updated to my phone when I am near him.

Also since using the sensor, my horse is so much happier, this is because I am no longer over rugging him (he is a lot warmer than I thought). The sensor has made a huge difference to my horse’s life and mine. If you are OCD or a worrier about rugging or knowing what your horse gets up to 24/7, then do what I have and get a Horse Health Sensor, damn glad I did. Hope this helps a little bit. :-)
Click to expand...

And you sound like you're ready to go onto a trade stand and sell for them. Or have you just come off one? Again, as a new poster with no history, care to declare if you have any links with the company?

I quite like the idea of knowing what they've been up to. I watch mine endlessly on my camera when they are in.
 
ycbm said:
I quite like the idea of knowing what they've been up to. I watch mine endlessly on my camera when they are in.
Click to expand...

You can attach a fit bit (or other activity tracker) to a headcollar (or hoof boot). Much simpler than having to have your horse in a vest all day ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top