Digital equine passport: scan it, have it offline, track the withdrawal period
In Friends4horses you scan the pages of your horse’s equine passport and have them with you even without a network – at the trailer, at the showground, at a check on the road. The app also notes whether the horse is intended for slaughter and until when a withdrawal period after a medication runs, and reminds you on the last day. It’s free. The app doesn’t replace the paper passport and doesn’t know any active ingredients: the vet makes the decision.
For iPhone. The Android app isn’t on Google Play yet.
What is the equine passport?
In the EU, every horse, pony and donkey needs an equine passport (Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/963). It shows the identification number (UELN) and the transponder (microchip), and it contains the section on veterinary treatment. It says whether the horse is intended for slaughter for human consumption.
How do I scan the equine passport?
- In the health record or at the top of the horse page, open “Equine passport”.
- Choose “Scan”: the camera recognises the page, straightens it and takes several pages in one go. An existing photo or PDF works too.
- Enter the passport number, the issuing body and the date of issue; UELN, microchip, FEI ID and life number come from the horse’s basic details.
- The order of the pages can be changed; up to 40 pages per horse.
The app saves the photos without location data. Once the passport has loaded, it shows it in a dead zone too. In the horse dossier PDF, the passport pages can be included on separate sheets at the end.
Intended for slaughter or not – what does that mean?
Without an entry, a horse counts in the EU as intended for slaughter, that is as food-producing. For such a horse the vet can’t use many active ingredients, or only with a withdrawal period; for substances on the list of substances essential for equidae the withdrawal period is six months. If it is entered that the horse is not intended for slaughter, that is final.
In the app you choose one of three states: unknown, intended for slaughter or not for slaughter. The app treats “unknown” like a horse intended for slaughter and shows the withdrawal period notes. It only sets “not for slaughter” after a question (“Entered in the equine passport?”), because all withdrawal period notes go silent after that.
How do I enter a withdrawal period?
- In the health record, enter the treatment, medication, vaccination or deworming.
- Add the withdrawal period stated by the vet, in days or months.
- The app calculates the end from the last day of treatment, shows the end date of the withdrawal period in the record and calendar and reminds you on that day.
A medication that is still being given has no end yet: the withdrawal period only starts with the last day it is given. The vaccinations from the passport go into the health record – the vaccination check recalculates influenza there.
Frequently asked questions
Does the scanned passport replace the equine passport?
No. The paper equine passport remains the document that travels with the horse and that the vet has to see at every treatment. The scans in the app are a copy to look at – handy when the passport has stayed at the stable.
Is my horse intended for slaughter?
As long as the equine passport doesn’t state that the horse is not intended for slaughter for human consumption, it counts in the EU as intended for slaughter – that is, as food-producing. That entry is final.
Does the app know a medication’s withdrawal period?
No. The app doesn’t know any active ingredients. It only calculates with the withdrawal period you enter from the vet, from the last day of treatment. The vet makes the decision; the entry in the equine passport is what counts.
Who sees the pages of my equine passport?
Only the owner and co-managers, that is those who can also read the health record – not helpers and never anyone on a profile. A passport page carries the owner’s name and address; that’s why the Friends4 photo team doesn’t see it either.
Legal bases, as the app cites them: Regulation (EU) 2019/6 on veterinary medicinal products; Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/963 (equine passport); Regulation (EU) No 122/2013 and its successor (list of essential substances). Not legal advice.