Galop 6Knowledge
Contents
- 01WelcomeOverview
- 02Foot and shoeingKnowledge
- 03DiseasesKnowledge
- 04Requirements and conditionKnowledge
- 05BreedingKnowledge
- 06Identifying a horseKnowledge
- 07The rein-backKnowledge
- 08Qualities of the gaitsKnowledge
- 09Judging a testKnowledge
- 10On the bit and impulsionKnowledge
- 11Counter-canterKnowledge
- 12Training aidsKnowledge
- 13Work on the flatIn the saddle
- 14DressageIn the saddle
- 15Show jumpingIn the saddle
- 16Cross-countryIn the saddle
- 17Lunge and long reinsOn foot
- 18Turnout and careCaring for the horse
- 19RevisionRevision
Identifying a horse: the procedure and the tools
Every equine in France has an official identity, tied to its body by a microchip and by a written description of its markings. Knowing how to check it means being able to say that this horse really is the one on the papers.
In the exam programme
- Explain how to go about identifying a horse.Common module B
- Know how to use the identification tools — colour chart, documents.Common module B
Since 2008 every equine kept in France must be identified: it carries a transponder — the microchip whose position and reader you met in Galop 5 — it is registered on SIRE, the national database run by the IFCE, France’s national horse institute, and it travels with an identification document, its passport, which holds its description: the record of its natural markings. A foal must be identified before weaning, within 8 months of birth. Only an authorised identifier, a vet or an IFCE officer, may insert the microchip and record the description.
The procedure, step by step
- Prepare the horseIn daylight, on flat ground, the horse clean and held in a headcollar by a helper. A dirty or wet horse hides its markings and changes colour.
- Sex and ageStallion (an entire male), gelding (castrated) or mare; then the approximate age, which the date of birth in the document will confirm.
- The coat colourFirst decide the base colour from the colour of the coat, the mane and tail, the skin and the eyes, leaving any white hairs out of it. Then add, where they apply, the mixed hairs, patches and additional markings you met in Galop 5.
- Markings and featuresNote the white markings on the head and legs, the whorls (Galop 3), the colour of the hooves and eyes, any permanent scars and any brands.
- The microchipPass the reader over the left side of the neck, under the mane: it shows a 15-digit number, which begins with 250 for a horse chipped in France.
- Check against the documentsCompare what you have seen, and the number you have read, with the identification document. Everything must match; at the slightest doubt, call in an identifier.
The identification tools
- The mane and tail
- The body hair: a bay here
- The lower legs
- The chart: one card for each shade, held against the coat
Tool 1
The colour chart
Published by the IFCE, the coat colour chart gives each colour a card of its own, with its shades. Hold it against the horse’s body, in daylight, to compare colours rather than guess them from memory.
Tool 2
The identification document
It follows the horse all its life and travels with it: name, SIRE number, date of birth, breeding, microchip number and description, both drawn and written. You first looked through its pages in Galop 4.
Tool 3
The registration card
It names the owner. At every sale, the new owner reports the change to the IFCE.
Tool 4
The reader and SIRE
The reader reads the microchip number; the SIRE database links that number to the horse’s identity and to its owner.
Common mistake
Naming the colour of a horse that is clipped, wet or halfway through casting its coat. Coat colour changes with the seasons; the mane and tail, the skin and the points are far less misleading.
Reading the document line by line and checking point by point that the description matches the horse is a Galop 7 exercise. At Galop 6 you need to know the procedure and how to use the tools.