UK - GPS technology used on elite athletes to help horse trainers

Horse trainers who have traditionally relied on experience and intuition to gauge the performance of horses will soon be able to apply some of the same methods that sports scientists use to train elite athletes.

Gmax Ltd., a new spin out company from technology and product development consultancy Cambridge Design Partnership (CDP) was launched in July 2007. It has developed a novel GPS product that will send essential physical, physiological and environmental information about a training workout from horse to trainer, via the internet.

Having immediate access to information detailing the work the horse is doing, its gait, temperature, breathing and the environmental conditions means that trainers and vets will be able to optimise training regimes while at the same time ensuring it’s welfare.

The monitoring electronics to achieve this are built in to a sleeve that slides over the girth. Real time information is transmitted wirelessly to a trainer’s mobile, PDA or laptop anywhere in the world. Information to help control the workout can also be sent to the jockey via a specially designed wristwatch.

Commenting, Mike Cane a director of CDP who has led the development of Gmax said: “Often the difference between first and second in a race is fractions of a second, just as it is in human athletics. Gmax has an important role to play in bringing the principles of sports medicine to thoroughbred racing to maximise a horse’s chances of winning.”

“Using detailed information provided by the Gmax system, trainers will be able to implement training schedules that bring a horse progressively to the peak of fitness.”

“Current training methods rely heavily on visual assessments coupled with years of experience. While Gmax will never replace good horsemanship, it will provide trainers with objective measurements of training workload and response; replacing guesswork with scientific evidence and making elite training methods accessible to all.”

At a launch event at CDP offices in July, potential investors were able to see a presentation on the companies’ future plans and a demonstration of the technology. Two of the UK’s leading equine exercise physiologists who were present agreed that the technology had an exciting future.