Galop 7Knowledge
Contents
- 01WelcomeOverview
- 02Limb conformationKnowledge
- 03Identification, the passportKnowledge
- 04Travelling horsesKnowledge
- 05RationingKnowledge
- 06Feed labelsKnowledge
- 07Lunging training aidsOn foot
- 08Long-reining, flexionOn foot
- 09Polo bandagesCaring for the horse
- 10The double bridleCaring for the horse
- 11Shoulder-inKnowledge
- 12StraightnessKnowledge
- 13FlatworkIn the saddle
- 14Dressage optionIn the saddle
- 15Show-jumping optionIn the saddle
- 16Cross-country optionIn the saddle
- 17RevisionRevision
Identifying a horse and reading its passport
At Galop 6 you learned the method. At Galop 7 you put it into practice: identify a real horse, using the tools if you need them, and check that its identity document really is its own.
In the exam programme
- Be able to identify a horse, using the tools if needed.Common module B
- Know how to read a passport and check a horse’s description.Common module B
A reminder: every equine kept in France must have an identity document (the equine passport), a transponder (the microchip, seen at Galop 5) and a SIRE number, from the French national equine register. For the IFCE, the French horse and riding institute that keeps that register, a horse’s identity rests on three entries in the passport, which must agree with one another and with the animal: the written description, the diagram and the transponder number.
What the passport contains
- Identification page
- Name, sex, colour, breed or type, date and place of birth, UELN (the 15-character European number) and transponder number.
- Written description
- The written account of the colour, white markings, whorls and distinguishing marks, in the official vocabulary.
- Diagram
- The outline of the horse — left and right sides, head from the front, legs from the front and from behind — on which the identifier has drawn every white marking and marked every whorl.
- Pedigree
- Sire, dam and stud book, for a horse of recorded breeding.
- Identity checks
- The stamps of the vets or authorised officials who have checked the horse’s identity during its life.
- Vaccinations
- Every injection, with its date, the name of the vaccine and the vet’s signature.
- Medicinal treatment
- The page that states whether or not the horse may enter the human food chain; an exclusion is permanent.
The identity pages
Name, birth, sex, breed, breeding, numbers; then the written description.
The diagram of markings
Left and right profiles, the head from the front, the legs: markings drawn in red.
Vaccinations and medication
Every vaccination dated, labelled and signed; the page that says whether the horse may enter the food chain.
Checking a description, step by step
- PrepareA clean, dry horse, held in a headcollar on flat ground, in daylight; the passport and, if possible, a microchip reader and the IFCE’s colour chart.
- Check the essentialsThe sex (stallion, gelding or mare), an age that fits the date of birth, the colour. If any of these does not match, there is no point going further.
- Read the chipPass the reader over the left side of the neck, in the upper third, near the mane, and compare the 15 digits shown with the number in the passport.
- Follow the diagramLeg by leg, then the head: every white leg marking, every head marking, every whorl must be where it is drawn. Always go in the same order so you miss nothing.
- Reread the textThe written description must say the same as the diagram: colour, markings, whorls, distinguishing marks such as a scar or a brand.
- ConcludeIf everything agrees, the horse is identified. At the slightest doubt, never correct anything yourself: tell the owner, who calls in a vet or an authorised identifier.
Common mistake
A colour that has changed is not necessarily a mistake: a grey horse that whitens with age stays “grey” in its passport. On the other hand, a white sock drawn on the wrong leg, or a whorl you cannot find, should stop you in your tracks.
Identifying without a passport
Faced with an unknown horse, go back to the Galop 6 method: sex, colour with the help of the colour chart, white markings, whorls, distinguishing marks, then read the chip. With the chip number, a vet or the police can trace the identity held on the central database. The SIRE number itself is confidential, reserved for the owner and authorised persons.
Did you know?
The registration card, which names the registered owner, is a separate document from the passport. When a horse is sold, the passport goes with it, and the change of ownership is declared to the IFCE.