According to a recent survey conducted by The Horse, 73.9% of our readers own or operate personal computers. This number is high, and computer ownership shows no signs of slowing down because computers have the ability to simplify many aspects of our lives. For the computerized farm, this means having all records from breeding dates to billing invoices, and from feeding regimes to veterinary records at your fingertips. There is also the added bonus of having access to those records in a matter of seconds and being able to make a printout of any record with the touch of your finger. No more looking in shoe boxes and trying to remember the date for that bill that you had a question about. Now it is as simple as booting up your computer and printing out the invoice in question.

Not only can you run management programs on your computer, but the computer also can serve as an invaluable tool for researching information on any and all equine topics, such as breed organizations, show results, or schedules of horse shows and events. All in all, the computer has the ability to become an essential, time-saving, and useful research tool that many farm operators already have learned to use to their advantage in all phases of farm and horse management.

Software for the Farm

It’s time to find the system that will work best for your specific needs once you have decided to replace the shoe box filing system with a computerized system. There are a number of companies that deal strictly with horse farm management and veterinary clinic management. They have software starting at $49.99 for basic tools to aid you in managing a couple of horses, and prices range into the thousands of dollars for software to help you successfully manage a large farm or clinic. Some of the more expensive systems include the software and the computer itself, which is a nice touch if you are also in the market for a computer