Anything horsey you thought could be done better??

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katie_RAC

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I'm part of a group of 3rd-year students at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, and one of our courseworks this year is designing and marketing a new equestrian-related product. We initially thought of a heated saddle saver and did a fair bit of market research but unfortunately this idea was rejected. So we'd like to know if there's any products out there already that you use and often think 'I wish it did this' or 'Why didn't they design it like this' etc. etc. and get back to us! You never know, you could see our product out there in the future! :)
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!! :)
 
A kind of timed feed. You know how cats and dogs can have feeds which open on a timer.

Imagine if you had a system which would delivery hay on a timer. Or even hard feed.

The marketing would be awesome, we could all lie in bed knowing our horses had had their early morning feed.

Don't know how you could do it safely - but if you could I promise to be a customer tester!
 
canteron said:
A kind of timed feed. You know how cats and dogs can have feeds which open on a timer.

Imagine if you had a system which would delivery hay on a timer. Or even hard feed.

The marketing would be awesome, we could all lie in bed knowing our horses had had their early morning feed.

Don't know how you could do it safely - but if you could I promise to be a customer tester!
Click to expand...

Actually I think I saw this once for hard feed in a Pegasus magazine? You set the timer and it opens the lid of the sort of manger which is attached to the wall, and it will open the lid at the time you set it at.. (badly worded! made sense in my head?)
Agree with lara though - a safe way to trickle feed from the floor! xx
 
How about under floor heating for stables, wash rooms and tack rooms powered by the heat from the muck heap ?

Or a robot sweeper for the aisles in American barns.Although I guess for professional yards, working pupils are cheaper.:o
 
Thank you so much for all your feedback! A close friend of mine is actually working on a timed feeding system for her group coursework, so watch this space :)
I like the idea of having hay in a rack in the field...and its on a timer so every hour or so a little more is released to the ground/a distance away so as not to be under the rack. What does everyone think of that idea?
Currently we've come up with two more potential ideas for products...let me know what you think!!
1) A magnetic riding boot. Exactly the same as a normal jodhpur boot but with magnets around the ankle area to provide magnetic healing powers for those with ankle injuries.Magnet therapy seems to be very popular in jewellery form and I know we can now buy magnetic boots, patches, rugs etc for the horses but what about us?! :D
2) A big water bucket, like one of the hard round ones, on wheels with a pull-rope. Several friends of mine have to fill up their water buckets a way from their stables and drag/carry them over to their stables, so we were thinking of designing something that would have wheels which pop out somehow and click back in when you're finished dragging it to stop horses playing with it and ending up sitting in it...;)

Thank you all SO much for your comments so far!!
 
A device to discourage door kicking.

Years ago, I once saw a device that sprayed a jet of water upwards when the door was kicked.
I've now got a door kicker but it doesn't seem to be made anymore.
 
Yay! Good, that's brilliant that we have a (small) market already!! :D

Originally we were going to make a heated saddle saver, which would have gel pads in there (like those ones which you can get, the handwarmers) with little round metal discs in them to activate them and make them warm up, and we were going to diversify to gloves with the main pad in the palm/on top of the hand, with gel strips up the fingers to spread the heat up the hand...but our idea of the heated saddle saver got rejected :eek:
 
Like the wheely water container idea :)

I'd steer clear of your magnetic boots though - I know they're popular, but for an academic piece of writing I think you'd have quite a hard time trying to find any solid scientific research to back up their usefulness ;)
 
Excellent, glad you like that idea :)

Yeah, thanks for your comments about the magnetic boots! I've been doing some research into them and found they can actually cause more injuries than they heal, especially in exercise - obvs with work, circulation increases, and with the magnetic patches/boots etc. is that circulation to the affected area increases too, so there is a lot of blood flowing through that area...which can cause over-flexion and excess extention and elasticity of tendons, ligaments etc which can make the damage worse...so might not be the best thing for sore ankles! Also these things can take up to 2wks to work, which by that time you would hope that your sore ankle might be feeling a bit better :D

Thanks for the comments everyone, its so interesting to hear what everyone has to say!:)
 
katie_RAC said:
Originally we were going to make a heated saddle saver, which would have gel pads in there (like those ones which you can get, the handwarmers) with little round metal discs in them to activate them and make them warm up, and we were going to diversify to gloves with the main pad in the palm/on top of the hand, with gel strips up the fingers to spread the heat up the hand...but our idea of the heated saddle saver got rejected :eek:
Click to expand...

I can't believe it got rejected :( have these people ever ridden in winter?? lol :D
 
katie_RAC said:
Thank you so much for all your feedback! A close friend of mine is actually working on a timed feeding system for her group coursework, so watch this space :)
I like the idea of having hay in a rack in the field...and its on a timer so every hour or so a little more is released to the ground/a distance away so as not to be under the rack. What does everyone think of that idea?
Currently we've come up with two more potential ideas for products...let me know what you think!!
1) A magnetic riding boot. Exactly the same as a normal jodhpur boot but with magnets around the ankle area to provide magnetic healing powers for those with ankle injuries.Magnet therapy seems to be very popular in jewellery form and I know we can now buy magnetic boots, patches, rugs etc for the horses but what about us?! :D
2) A big water bucket, like one of the hard round ones, on wheels with a pull-rope. Several friends of mine have to fill up their water buckets a way from their stables and drag/carry them over to their stables, so we were thinking of designing something that would have wheels which pop out somehow and click back in when you're finished dragging it to stop horses playing with it and ending up sitting in it...;)

Thank you all SO much for your comments so far!!
Click to expand...

Ha ha, Like heelies trainers!
 
Haha BillyBob-Sleigh...yes that's what we were thinking too! :D

And Sportsrock - that's the principle we would be working on, so looking at the mechanism behind heelies and seeing how they get the wheels to pop out and in...I think we might be on to a good one here!! :)

Maresmaid, I like the idea of something to prevent water buckets freezing too...I know you can get those ball thingies to stop field troughs freezing over I think, the same sort of thing they use in ponds (my Granny has one in her pond!) so that's something we could look into using :) and incorporating it into the wheelie water bucket. Also a friend of mine suggested having a lid to put on top to stop water splashing about when going to the field or over uneven ground...what does everyone think? Other insulation ideas - having some form of heating element (obvs safe!) in the outer layer of the plastic, or thick insulating material, or a hot water connection running around the outside of the bucket...any other ideas?

Thank you to everyone who is commenting, you are being SO helpful!! :D
 
Insulation for water buckets in the winter could be cheap and easy and have a huge market. Outside taps and pipes have foam lagging on them, hot water cylinders have a 'jacket' you put on them. You could make a sock from neoprene and fill it with a foam or those little polystyrene packing things which would insulate the bucket and keep it off the ground. Very little water would freeze from the top down as the latent heat would rise through the water.

a central heating system for water buckets would be too complicated and expensive to install!

Keep it simple, keep it cheap and don't isolate your markets. Remember the current economic climate and that people have very little spare cash at the moment!
 
I really like the idea of horse sat nav! And additional to that horse headlights would be nice, attatch them to the breastplate or have it on a strap to attatch there, so you can go on a hack when its getting dark as some people don't have a school with lights, or even use it in a field to ride :)
really like the idea of wheelie bucket however, you must take into account that not all people have stables indoors so the wheels would have to be big enough to get through difficult terrain; mud, stones etc. the insulation issue, it has to be something water ressistant obvs, also has to withstand being throw about or stood in or being kicked or bitten, you never know what the horse will do, my friends 16.2hh hunter likes to put his front feet in the water and stand in it for ages stamping his feet. however, it can't be too heavy as the heavier it is the bigger the wheels to be able to go over mud when the bucket is filled, and it must be easy to clean, so this is really something to consider. :)
 
I agree with the idea of some sort of satnav for bridleways, I really honestly would seriously buy this! I am hopeless at getting lost when out and it would be a great way to plan new routes also!

Also second (or third or whatever we're up to) the trickle feeding from the ground idea!

Another one that would be good would be a device to put in water buckets to stop them freezing. Whether it would do this by keeping the water slightly heated, by keeping stirring the water so the surface is moving or something else entirely I don't know but think that would be a bit of a lifesaver to a lot of people in winter. (similarly something to stop the hosepipe freezing would be good...)
 
Can't you do that now on a smart phone? just maybe put a case to get it updated to show byways/bridleways and not just roads? that could be an app which could be added to...

Mine is a large ring support frame - which you place your haynet in and has scales attached. The haynet would be held open (none of this swearing trying to stuff a net with hay) and at the same time, you could ensure you weigh in the correct amount..
 
Concerning stopping water buckets from freezing - something that the buckets sit in would be more practical so that you don't have to carry a really bulky bucket to the tap to fill it.
 
WOW absolutely blown away by everyone's comments! Thank you all so much! :)

I'm really thinking about this wheelie water bucket idea now, and I love Tinsel Trouble's idea of using the dyson balls! Clever!! Then like you say it can be taken through mud/stones/rough ground and still be OK and not get stuck. Was thinking of having an insulating layer, not sure quite what of yet, but I like what Tinsel Trouble suggested of using those little polystyrene packing balls and developing something to wrap around the bucket and underneath it when the wheels are engaged (i.e. down, so you can wheel it), and then lowering the bucket to its normal position with the wheels away so the polystyrene balls are underneath and around, and strapping it on with heavy duty velcro. This would save having to lift a huge bucket of water into an insulating ring which could potentially end in you being very wet and cold!! We would definitely make it horse-proof - thanks for your comments Shiny-ISH, I like the sound of the hunter who stands in his water bucket :p ! Also, was thinking of having a long-ish rope handle so you don't have to stoop to drag it (I'm almost 6ft) which can be disconnected from the bucket itself to stop horses playing with it in the stable. What does everyone think of these suggestions?

I do like the idea of bridle way sat-navs or developing an App for hacking, Luci07! It would be fun, but a heck of a lot of work, and it would mean going around pretty much most yards in the country and asking them to map out their hacking routes. Maybe an idea for Apple or HTC!! :)

THANK YOU ALL SOOOO MUCH FOR YOUR COMMENTS!!
 
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