Equine monitoring tech is advancing, but field use still lags
A new review in Equine Veterinary Journal takes stock of where equine welfare and performance monitoring technology stands under real-world field conditions, with a focus on tools that can quantify both physiological and psychological responses during exercise. The authors, from Utrecht University, argue that welfare assessment in sport horses increasingly needs objective, continuous data across cardiovascular, respiratory, muscular, thermoregulatory, endocrine, and locomotor systems, especially as equestrian sport faces ongoing scrutiny around its social license to operate. The review emphasizes validated technologies first, then points to emerging options, including AI-enabled and sensor-based systems, that could broaden monitoring beyond traditional observation alone. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
Why it matters: For veterinarians, the message is less that one breakthrough device has arrived and more that the field is maturing, but unevenly. A related 2025 Frontiers in Veterinary Science editorial notes that wearables, environmental sensors, and computer vision have strong research potential, yet relatively few tools have made the jump into routine daily management. Commercial products are moving faster, though: Horsepal’s platform has promoted 24/7 tracking of activity, sleep, GPS location, heart rate, and management records, while other companies such as Sleip are pushing smartphone-based AI gait analysis into practice settings. For equine clinicians, that creates an expanding opportunity to use objective data for earlier detection of problems, client communication, and longitudinal case monitoring, while still demanding caution about validation, workflow fit, and how much signal these systems add beyond a good exam. (frontiersin.org)
What to watch: Expect the next phase to center on validation in everyday practice, not just more devices, as researchers and industry try to close the gap between promising prototypes and tools veterinarians can trust in the field. (frontiersin.org)