---
title: "Animal Categories"
url: "https://epona-support.ardex.tech/en/article/animal-categories"
language: "en"
last_updated: "2026-05-15T05:06:19.176Z"
---

# Animal Categories

In this screen you can update, create and manage categories for your animals.

### What are Animal Categories?

Animal Categories let you classify horses in a way that reflects your operation. Whether you run a breeding stud, a racing stable, a spelling property, or a mix of all three, you define the labels that appear when adding or editing a horse.

Out of the box, EPONA seeds a starter se but you can add, rename, reorder, and archive these to suit your needs.

### Where does it appear?

-   **Add/edit horse** — the Category field on the horse form
-   **Horse list** — filter your horse list by category to see only the horses relevant to a task
-   **Reports** (Coming Soon)— group horses by category in performance, financial, and operational summaries

* * *

### How to manage Animal Categories

#### Add a category

1.  Go to **Settings → Category Management → Animal Categories** tab
2.  Type the category name in the **Category Name** field.
3.  Click **\+ Add Category**.

The new category is added to the bottom of the list and immediately available in horse forms.

#### Set a default

1.  Find the category you want to set as default.
2.  Toggle the **Default** switch on (blue).

The default category pre-fills the Category field whenever a new horse is added. Only one default can be active — enabling a new one clears the previous.

#### Reorder categories

Drag the ⠿ handle on the left of any row up or down. The new order is reflected immediately in horse form dropdowns.

#### Edit a category name

Click the **pencil icon** on the right of the row, update the name, and save. All horses already assigned that category are updated automatically.

#### Archive a category

Click the **archive icon** on the right of the row. The category is removed from dropdowns but remains on any horse records it was already assigned to. Toggle **Show archived** (top right) to view or restore archived categories.

### Tips

> 💡 **Start broad, refine later.** A small, clear set of categories (4–6) is easier for your team to use consistently than a long exhaustive list. You can always add more as your needs grow.

> 💡 **Set a meaningful default.** If most horses at your property fall into one category (e.g. Breeding), set that as the default to save your team a click on every new horse entry.