It could be what's known as a "weight tape", which is a tape used to measure either loss or gain of weight in horses and ponies; there are many, many different types of these which doesn't cause the confusion you may think, as they are all self - referential, so to speak. You use the tape to measure the girth of the animal in a known state, then measure on a regular basis thereafter; the measurements thus gained will indicate weight loss/gain but only in reference to the initial one taken. I've seen scores of these in harness rooms with no two being the same, they were given away as promotional items by feed mills and companies producing nutritional additives for equines. None of them work any better than a cord with knots in it, however
Just an idea.............................
