More than 700 2-year-old Thoroughbred racehorses are now wearing a biometric sensor as part of the American Association of Equine Practitioners' research project to determine the effectiveness of sensors in injury detection.
Submission of sensor data to the project's data analyst began in mid-February. Data will only be collected during weekly high-speed workouts.
Six sensor manufacturers are participating in the year-long study:
- Alogo Analysis
- Arioneo
- Equibase/Stable Analytics
- Equimetrics
- Garmin
- StrideSafe
"The support by the industry has been just tremendous, from the nearly $1 million in project funding from industry groups to the owners and trainers who volunteered their 2-year-olds to participate in the study," said Dr. Sara Langsam, AAEP Racing Committee chair. "It is a testament to the industry's dedication to making our sport even safer. We are all very excited to see what the data will yield."
Wearable biometric sensors have shown promise as an early warning system for the identification of racehorses at increased risk of musculoskeletal injury. These sensors are designed to capture data on a horse's movement patterns during high-speed events.
For more information about the study or to discuss the project with Dr. Langsam, contact Sally Baker, AAEP director of marketing and public relations, at sbaker@aaep.org or (859) 233-0147.
