Ellen Phiddian
Cosmos science journalist
US researchers have developed a tiny sensor capable of spotting when a racehorse is likely to develop an injury by monitoring 2,400 different data points every second.
“Racehorses get extensive examinations before races, but catastrophic injuries still happen, and not because they stepped in a hole or took a bad step,” says Dr Denise Mc Sweeney, an equine surgery resident at Washington State University, US.
Many of these horses have a pre-existing problem that won’t be shown in a clinical examination, according to Mc Sweeney.
“From our sensor data, we know most catastrophic injuries have a distinct stride pattern.
“Now we can see when there’s something wrong with their strides and step in before a major injury occurs.”
The sensor is described in a paper in the Journal of the American Veterinary Association.
It uses accelerometers, which track speed and movement.
The researchers used data from more than 6,500 racing starts to develop an “ideal stride” from high-performing horses, and spot similarities in strides that led to catastrophic injuries.
They used this data to break strides into 5 different categories, with category 1 moving close to the ideal stride. Category 5 horses were 950 times more likely to develop an injury.
Category 1 horses represented 70% of the horses tracked, while category 5 horses represented 3.5%.
“We know there are about 1.25 catastrophic injuries per 1,000 starts, but identifying those horses before such an event occurs is like finding a needle in a haystack, as they are often subjectively sound during a pre-race examination, and many don’t show any decrease in performance,” says Mc Sweeney.
“But if you can narrow it down, like the 3.5% we had out of that group, it is a lot easier to intervene and hopefully prevent injuries.”
In this study, the researchers showed that their sensors could alert trainers to risks on 3 horses that were all flagged as category 5. In each case, the horses were referred for more imaging which showed they were at risk of injury, and given time off to recover.
“These are prime examples of how this technology can prevent horses from breaking,” says Mc Sweeney.
“With this information, the trainers and their vets were able to put the brakes on, and now these horses are going on to have longer careers and, hopefully, avoid a catastrophic injury.”
The sensors have been used at 10 racetracks in the US so far, and the researchers are hoping they’ll become the industry standard.
“The sensors can save the lives of horses and jockeys – they already have,” says Mc Sweeney.
