🌡️ Vet Insight: New Microchip Technology for Horse Temperature Monitoring | 2025 Safer, Smarter Health Tracking 🐴

By Dr Duncan Houston, BVSc

Taking your horse’s temperature can be tricky—especially if your horse hasn’t been trained for it, or you don’t have an assistant. Yet it’s one of the most important things you can do when your horse seems off. Now, thanks to new microchip technology, monitoring temperature might be as easy as scanning your horse. 🧠📡

This 2025 guide explores the emerging use of **temperature-reading microchips** in horses and why this innovation could soon replace the rectal thermometer altogether. 🐴📲

❄️ The Problem with Rectal Thermometers

Traditional temperature-taking isn’t always easy—or safe. Challenges include: ⚠️

• 📏 Needing an accurate, working thermometer on hand
• 👫 Requiring a second person to hold the horse safely
• 💩 Accidentally inserting the thermometer into a ball of manure—not the rectal wall
• 🐎 Horses that kick, move, or resist the process

Inconsistencies in technique can also result in **inaccurate readings**, which may delay proper diagnosis and treatment. 📉🧪

📡 Enter Microchip-Based Temperature Monitoring

In an exciting development, researchers in France have prototyped a **temperature-sensing microchip** that functions just like a standard ID chip—but also records internal temperature. 🎯

💉 It’s inserted into the **left side of the horse’s neck**, like any standard 15-digit microchip. But with the right scanner, it can also provide a **real-time internal temperature reading**. 📊

Benefits of Temperature Microchips:

• 🌡️ Consistent, accurate temperature monitoring
• 🧼 No contact with manure or external contamination
• 🧠 Safer and less stressful for both horse and handler
• 📱 Future compatibility with smartphone apps

Initial tests have shown that these microchips offer **more stable readings** than rectal thermometers—without the risks and discomfort. ✅

📱 App Integration Is Coming

Currently, the system requires scanning with a **universal chip reader**, but developers are working on a **smartphone app** that will sync with the chip automatically. Once available, this could enable real-time remote monitoring during events, travel, or barn checks. 📡📱

This tech is already used in **other species**, and it’s only a matter of time before it’s widely adopted in the horse world. 🧪🌍

🦠 Ideal for Disease Outbreak Management

One of the biggest applications is during **infectious disease outbreaks**, such as equine herpesvirus or strangles. During these events, barn managers may need to take horse temperatures **twice daily**—a labor-intensive and risky job. 🔬📈

With microchip thermometers, you can check temperatures rapidly and safely with minimal stress to the horse. 🧠📋

💡 What This Means for the Future of Horse Health

Temperature microchips are not just a novelty—they could **transform equine wellness monitoring**. Imagine being able to:

• 📱 Check temps from your phone before morning feed
• 🚨 Receive alerts if a horse’s temperature rises above normal
• 📉 Monitor stress responses during transport or competition
• 🧬 Log trends for early disease detection

This kind of passive, non-invasive tracking is the future of **preventative care**. 🧠💙

🩺 Microchipping = Dual Function ID + Health Tool

Equine microchipping is already required by **FEI, USEF, and Jockey Club** for identification. Now, these chips can do double duty—offering ID and temperature monitoring in one painless injection. 📌🧬

📲 Use Ask A Vet for Microchip & Temperature Planning

The Ask A Vet app helps you make the most of this tech and plan your horse’s wellness strategy:

• 📋 Schedule a microchip with temperature-reading capabilities
• 📱 Store and log normal temperature readings for your horse
• 📸 Upload abnormal readings and signs for vet review
• 📡 Get notified when temperature chips and apps become available

Smarter tech means better care. Let Ask A Vet help you implement it safely. 🐴📲

✅ Microchip Temperature Monitoring Takeaways

• 🌡️ Rectal thermometers are accurate—but often inconvenient and risky
• 📡 Temperature-reading microchips are safer, cleaner, and just as precise
• 📱 Smartphone app integration is on the horizon
• 🧠 Great for routine checks, events, and disease outbreak monitoring
• 📱 Use Ask A Vet to get started and plan future integration

📲 Final Thoughts from Dr Duncan Houston

Technology is making it easier—and safer—to keep tabs on your horse’s health. With temperature-sensing microchips, we’re entering a new era of **low-stress, high-accuracy monitoring** that puts your horse’s well-being first. 🧠💙

Download the Ask A Vet app to schedule microchipping, log your horse’s normal temperature, and get expert support in integrating these exciting tools into your barn. 🐎📱