The most basic fact is this: Without horses, there is no horse racing. And thus, there have been massive advancements over the years in equine health and safety technology, not just to treat injuries that may occur on the track, but in some cases, to prevent them before they even happen.
One example is StrideSAFE, a company based in Midway, KY, that has its medical-grade sensors in use at racetracks around the country, including in New York and at every track in Kentucky. A wireless sensor weighing about three ounces fits snugly into the saddle towel of a horse that’s training or racing, and records hundreds of measurements a second to capture the movement of the horse in minute detail. The sensors can pick up tiny changes that may indicate that a horse is beginning to compensate for an oncoming injury, not only giving the trainer data to handle the individual horse moving forward, but adding to a database veterinarians and engineers use to create predictive models for injury risk.
“This is probably one of the most important contributions to the Thoroughbred horse industry that has ever been made,” Dr. Scott Palmer, New York State’s equine medical director, told the media when StrideSAFE came in to use locally in 2021.
Other safety technologies include positron emission tomography (PET) scans, which provide diagnostic imaging that can help identify abnormal metabolic activity in the bones of a racehorse, again hinting at oncoming injuries before an acute or catastrophic incident occurs. While PET scanners have been available at major equine hospitals, they are slowly coming on-site at some racetracks themselves, including Santa Anita and Churchill Downs.
