Study finds markerless equine gait analysis aligns with IMU systems

A July 24, 2024, Equine Veterinary Journal podcast highlighted research showing that objective movement asymmetry measurements in horses were broadly comparable between a markerless AI video system and established sensor-based systems used under field conditions. In the underlying study, published online April 2, 2024, and later appearing in the January 2025 print issue of Equine Veterinary Journal, researchers from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and a private equine practice compared Sleip AI, captured on an iPhone 14 Pro, with two inertial measurement unit systems, Equinosis Q with Lameness Locator and EquiMoves, in 41 client-owned horses in regular training. The study found moderate agreement among the objective systems for classifying asymmetric limbs, with most disagreements tied to threshold cutoffs rather than completely different limb identification. (evj.podbean.com)

Why it matters: For equine veterinarians, the study adds evidence that markerless gait analysis may be a practical field-friendly option when a full sensor setup isn't ideal. That matters because subjective lameness assessment can vary between observers, and the paper suggests these tools are often identifying the same side of asymmetry even when classification differs at the margin. At the same time, the markerless system analyzed fewer hindlimb strides than the IMU systems, which the authors flagged as a potential limitation, so the technology looks more like a complement to clinical examination than a replacement for it. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

What to watch: Watch for more validation work in harder clinical cases, especially around hindlimb assessment, longitudinal monitoring, and how practices integrate markerless tools into referral, recheck, and treatment-response workflows. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)