The future of training horses

[Daniel C]

Horses are pretty much the only athletes on the planet that are selectively bred to excel in their particular discipline. From the moment they are born, elite horses have one purpose. Whether it be racing, jumping, dressage, etc. they are on earth to excel, to win.

Then why is it that when such talented athletes are trained, they are trained solely on opinion? Trainers/riders think their horse is fit, they think their horse is ready for competition, they think their horse is in peak condition, but they don’t actually know.

Advanced and intensive monitoring of elite human athletes has been well documented across most sports. Golf swings are analysed, swimmers respiration is monitored and sprinters track their reaction time.

But the horse is possibly the greatest athlete of all. Selectively bred to ooze power, speed and grace, the horse is the ultimate combination of beauty, ability and trainability. However, there is limited tracking of any aspect of performance in horses. Systematic monitoring barely exists. Strength, endurance, performance, it’s all opinion.

I know great advances have been made in equine sports science in recent years. But are equestrians actually willing to adapt to a technological, data-driven world or are the old ways still considered the best?

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Horses are pretty much the only athletes on the planet that are selectively bred to excel in their particular discipline. From the moment they are born, elite horses have one purpose. Whether it be racing, jumping, dressage, etc. they are on earth to excel, to win.

Then why is it that when such talented athletes are trained, they are trained solely on opinion? Trainers/riders think their horse is fit, they think their horse is ready for competition, they think their horse is in peak condition, but they don’t actually know.

Advanced and intensive monitoring of elite human athletes has been well documented across most sports. Golf swings are analysed, swimmers respiration is monitored and sprinters track their reaction time.

But the horse is possibly the greatest athlete of all. Selectively bred to ooze power, speed and grace, the horse is the ultimate combination of beauty, ability and trainability. However, there is limited tracking of any aspect of performance in horses. Systematic monitoring barely exists. Strength, endurance, performance, it’s all opinion.

I know great advances have been made in equine sports science in recent years. But are equestrians actually willing to adapt to a technological, data-driven world or are the old ways still considered the best?

You are behind the times, the TB racing industry uses lots of technology on a day to day basis, not just to identify issues. There are major advances ongoing.
One of the critical variables is horse weight, most of the bigger yards have a weighing facility, and that is the simplest thing they can do.
http://liphookequinehospital.co.uk/...ital-facilities/diagnostic-imaging/endoscopy/
http://www.aht.org.uk/cms-display/equiness.html
Many of the bigger yards have monitoring on all horses in work, even their own vet, laboratory , etc

 

[Daniel C]

Yes... but I'm not quite sure it's in any way as vastly used as technology in other industries such as human sports.
In your opinion, is it evolving (with a big future) or is it just not really accepted on a large scale?

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Yes... but I'm not quite sure it's in any way as vastly used as technology in other industries such as human sports.
In your opinion, is it evolving (with a big future) or is it just not really accepted on a large scale?

The cream will always rise to the top: the best human athletes will be identified at an early stage and will be offered support if they choose to so do. However funds are limited, just as in any sphere. As technology reduces in price, it becomes more affordable and more widespread. Of course it is evolving.
There is no point in trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, but race horses are probably fitter now than they ever were.
Trainers don't just flip a coin or train according to a timetable, they adjust the training regime to fit the horse, not the other way round.
It's nothing to do with rejection of technology, if the technology is available and cost effective it will be used. Of course some people who don't have access to leading edge technology rely more on judgement and experience, but they won't stay in business long if they can't produce the goods. Scanning and x-rays used to be leading edge, now most equine vet clinics offer these services to all clients, not just those with the finest equines.
Blood testing, enzymes, respiration, these are all tested, what are you thinking of that cannot be transferred from human monitoring?

 

[Daniel C]

The cream will always rise to the top: the best human athletes will be identified at an early stage and will be offered support if they choose to so do. However funds are limited, just as in any sphere. As technology reduces in price, it becomes more affordable and more widespread.
Of course it is evolving.

Very good point.

 

[claracanter]

How strange you have just started this thread. My step son needs a project for his A level computing and we were just discussing this very fact. How is it you have all this technology and Apps etc. for humans, even amateurs to track their performance/ training goals etc and yet there's nothing for horses. I don't even know how many calories a horse burns on a hack, bit simplistic, I know but there's nothing out there.
I guess there have been advances in racing. Top trainers especially pioneers like Martin Pipe really grabbed traditional training methods by the scruff of the neck and shook it all up. Racing is much further forward with technology for monitoring horses performance.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

How strange you have just started this thread. My step son needs a project for his A level computing and we were just discussing this very fact. How is it you have all this technology and Apps etc. for humans, even amateurs to track their performance/ training goals etc and yet there's nothing for horses. I don't even know how many calories a horse burns on a hack, bit simplistic, I know but there's nothing out there.
I guess there have been advances in racing. Top trainers especially pioneers like Martin Pipe really grabbed traditional training methods by the scruff of the neck and shook it all up. Racing is much further forward with technology for monitoring horses performance.

I think that calories is something alien to the animal world, feed is measures in ME for metaboliser energy and joules per kilogram of feedstuffs, its not that these things are unknown, or not measurable, its just that the critical variables are different, look at the pdf about the Clydesdale ......... in the Vet News, and the specialism of vets at the AHT
http://www.aht.org.uk/cms-display/equine_publications.html
there are these
https://www.polar.com/uk-en/products/equine
app included
https://www.polar.com/uk-en/products/equine/training_software/protrainer_5_equine_edition
riders need advice too
http://www.markjohnstonracing.com/m...016_10_Deirdre Johnston - Always training.pdf

 

[claracanter]

Brilliant. Thanks Exploding Chestnuts.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

The best known yards using technology are Aiden O Brian at Ballydoyle and Mark Johnston Racing in Middleham.
Now I find MJR website to be unfathomable, but he is quite open as to his methods of training for peak performance.
You probably need to dig quite deep to find out about the use of technology on the gallops, but there is plenty of analysis done of horses using the treadmill under scientific control, in practice the bigger yards may use water treadmills day to day, or swimming pools, having determined that these exercises give a certain advantage at different stages of training and for different horses. Tens and lasers are used in many yards, as are magnetic/heat/massage therapy and so one. Bloods are frequently taken, endoscopy is pretty much routine [scoped dirty is regularly noted when a horse is withdrawn from a race]

 

[ycbm]

Horses are pretty much the only athletes on the planet that are selectively bred to excel in their particular discipline. From the moment they are born, elite horses have one purpose. Whether it be racing, jumping, dressage, etc. they are on earth to excel, to win.

Then why is it that when such talented athletes are trained, they are trained solely on opinion? Trainers/riders think their horse is fit, they think their horse is ready for competition, they think their horse is in peak condition, but they don’t actually know.

Advanced and intensive monitoring of elite human athletes has been well documented across most sports. Golf swings are analysed, swimmers respiration is monitored and sprinters track their reaction time.

But the horse is possibly the greatest athlete of all. Selectively bred to ooze power, speed and grace, the horse is the ultimate combination of beauty, ability and trainability. However, there is limited tracking of any aspect of performance in horses. Systematic monitoring barely exists. Strength, endurance, performance, it’s all opinion.

I know great advances have been made in equine sports science in recent years. But are equestrians actually willing to adapt to a technological, data-driven world or are the old ways still considered the best?

Can I ask what background you are coming at this from Daniel? You seem a little out of date.

In May this year I attended a BHS Northwest region training day (for ordinary mortals, not just the elite) about biomechanics. There's plenty going on in that area.

 

[Cortez]

Gosh, 25+ years ago I worked in a big American dressage stable that employed all kinds of sports tech for their horses: bloods, oxygen measuring, water treadmills, heart monitors, individual diet formulations, gait analysis; pretty much everything that was available at the time. If there is sufficient money involved I think people will access whatever is out there.

 

[ohmissbrittany]

I think for an experienced trainer, nothing substitutes feel and instinct- they know the horse. There are horses like Flexible who suffer "career ending injuries" and come back fighting and winning, and only by knowing the horse- when it's hurting/happy/sore/etc- can you make those judgement calls. Training journals are also very useful to track what works for a given horse and what doesn't, or backtrack to when a niggling issue started to present itself. If you really think about it, training a horse doesn't have to be different to training any other athlete, but I feel like that's something only a person who did sports could appreciate. Like, I ran track/cross-country and we had "speed days" and "distance days" and "weight training days" and "break days" that all had their purpose in our conditioning and focus, different warmups for different things. We didn't just go out and run without a plan and I think that is where some folks fall short. True professionals have plans to get their horse to peak right before an event or iron out an issue, they don't just say "ho hum, today I'll trot some circles because I'm not sure what I'm going to do without someone telling me."

That said, I'm an engineer and I like data. So things like the Equisense monitors that track unevenness really excite me.

 

[alainax]

Its all fair and well measuring all of these things, but there is one key variable that is not taken into consideration. Attitude has a large role to play. A top athlete wants to be a top athlete, they work hard to achieve it. You could have a horse which ticks all the right boxes in technical tests, but if it doesn't have the right attitude for the job then it might struggle under the pressure.

Experience and opinion of what horses will make it is not just about the bio mechanical, but knowing which ones are mentally up for the job. Its what makes equestrianism different, there is another mind involved. Not just a certain type of racket or club, not just an athletes wish to succeed, but a whole other mind which makes a huge difference.