How Tech will Transform the Horse World

First domesticated 5,000 years ago, the horses’ role has changed considerably throughout history, from roaming the great plains, to helping to build empires and fight wars, to racing and the sport of kings. Horses have always demonstrated an incredible range of versatility and athleticism. Horse sport has since evolved and grown and now represents a multibillion-dollar industry. 

The economic value of the business of horses is estimated to be $39 billion in the U.S. alone. Typically when we think of horses and horse sport, we do not think of technology. Something about being around horses and the deep-rooted tradition in horse sport really brings you back to doing things the old fashioned way. But the opportunities for new technology and better ways of doing things are becoming harder and harder to ignore. While the pace of change over the past few years has been swift, we haven’t even begun to skim the surface. Some of these innovations have the potential to disrupt the equine industry, altering the very fundamentals of how we ride and care for our horses.

Here are some possibilities that have recently opened my eyes to the true impact technology is having and will continue to have on our industry:

3D Printing & Farrier Tech

As we move into an age of self-reliance and innovation, 3D printing could become a massive breakthrough for farriers. Recent developments in farrier tech have happened due to a need for improvement - something beyond just a simple iron shoe nailed to the hoof.

Because the hoof of each horse is unique, a mass-produced solution ‘one size fits all’ solution will never be available on the market, and even if there is one, the amount of modification needed for each shoe would make it unsustainable as a business model.

3D Printing could help farriers with solutions that are entirely customized to each horse and available within  minutes to correct gait, or improve some deficiency that would help the horse - it would become more than just a shoe, rather a tool to help a horse beyond just a veterinarian or surgical option for correcting an issue.

Robotic Xray

In order to CT scan a horse, it must be anesthetized and carefully maneuvered into a machine- a not such an easy task. A newly developed technique uses a pair of precisely-controlled robots to perform the scan, so that the horse can be awake and standing up while it’s being x-rayed.

The University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine partnered with a company called 4DDI to develop a new CT imaging system called EQUIMAGINE that relies on a pair of ABB industrial robotic arms similar to those used in auto manufacturing.

Instead of grippers designed to assemble cars on an assembly line, the robots have x-ray emitters and sensors that can be precisely positioned on either side of the horse’s various body parts and slowly moved over time to help build up a 3D image of its internal bones and organs.

Given the strenuous workouts sporthorses of all types endure each day, this would be a way to ensure there are no signs of stress on the animal’s bones that could lead to a career-ending break.

Drones

Drones could potentially be used to monitor the population and movements of wild horses, without the requirement for helicopters or trackers, both of which pose their own challenges and limitations. It is also possible to imagine a future in which they could be used to deliver vaccines, antibiotics or other medical needs to veterinarians treating wild horses. I won’t get into the debate about the use of drones around horses in this post, I am simply pointing out some technical use cases for them.

Wireless Capsule Endoscopy for Veterinary Diagnoses

Taking a look inside a horse’s intestinal tract may soon be as simple as getting him to swallow a tiny camera, waiting for it to pass through his digestive system and then downloading the images it captures along the way.

A study from the University of Calgary, in Canada, explored the feasibility of wireless capsule endoscopy in diagnosing ulcers, parasites and other digestive problems in horses. The capsule tested by the Calgary group uses four cameras and a LED light system to capture 360-degree images of its environment. They experienced positive results from their testing, with the images clear and useful enough to make a diagnosis.

Virtual Reality for Veterinary Training

Complicated or rare equine surgeries could be practiced in a classroom, minimizing the risk to students, technicians, subjects (the horses) and teachers. Although expensive, VR has the ability to greatly reduce other costs, such as time and energy, as well as save an animal from enduring invasive procedures for the purpose of learning and training.

Smart Tack

Wearable sensor technology embedded in halters, saddles, girths, tendon boots and more, is a major space to watch. The Smart Halter Is a leather halter but in the crown piece are approximately two ounces of electronics, including novel noninvasive radiofrequency technology to monitor a horse’s heart rate and respiration, and a variety of other sensors to assess a horse’s activity, posture, and motion. It is synced up to a mobile app, so you can have eyes on your horse at all times.

Jeffrey Schab, founder of the Smart Halter says “Our vision is to transform the larger $130 billion-plus animal health market through data science and predictive analytics,” he explained. “We wish to leverage Big Data and move to a preventative versus reactive model of care and that can only be done with data, such as the information we acquire with the smart halter. In the near future, we hope to partner with insurance companies to refine their actuarial models and challenge them on what risk looks like. We also hope to work with researchers to better stratify randomized studies while partnering with pharmaceutical companies to measure the impact of their interventions.”

The possibilities of these wearables are endless for the equine market. Voltaire, a french saddle maker is a leading innovator when it comes to this. They have developed The first connected saddle with their Blue WingTM revolutionary smart tree and panel system which is the first saddle technology considered for the neurological benefit of the horse. 

I have only mentioned a few examples here. Remote training, motion analysis, AI, and even blockchain have the ability to hugely transform our sport. There are so many use cases for tech in horse sport that are cropping up every day that will alter the way we think about equine health and welfare. As a tech marketer shifting my focus toward the equine industry, this makes me extremely excited for the future. I love thinking about ways that I could help bring these types of technologies to the horse world that I love so much.