When Alan Wielunski stepped into the wonderful world of horses it was his young sons who got him hooked. “My connection with horses started 20 years ago when both my sons started riding,” recalled Alan. At first it was a hobby and passion for them but then gradually the whole family became obsessed. This obsession led to a successful sport horse business they own in the south of Holland called EMW Sport Horses.
PARIS, France: There are many intelligent and sophisticated riders looking for new ways to measure their performance goals. As is the case with Zakaria Antar, CEO and co-founder of Seaver, a former semi-professional rider who used to train with Abdelkebir Ouaddar. “I realized that aside from trusting my coach, there was no precise and scientific way for me to measure my progress,” explained Zakaria. Luckily with technology becoming more accessible and part of our culture, he found a way to monitor progress, performance, and most importantly his horses’ well-being through a product he co-founded called Seaver. After three years in development, Seaver’s first product was launched in April 2018.
As equestrians, we tend to have many unanswered questions about our equines – from their fitness level to nutrition to recovery time after an ailment or injury. But thanks to Hoofstep, a horse tech startup based in Sweden, their new wearable is designed to be your virtual veterinarian to bring you answers you never thought possible.
Anastasiya Illinska, has been an amateur dressage rider for 20 years and her experience and passion for horses led her on a journey to where she is today with working for a new horse tech start up called Horsense.shop. The idea for Horsense.shop started ten years ago when she opened an online tack shop in Kyiv, Ukraine. Over time she transformed it to a boutique store in the city center. “Having the shop really helped shape the online experience along with helping us encounter and manage all the problems of a typical business,” stated Anastasiya.
This month I challenged The Tech Equestrian Advisory board to think outside of the box (or stall!) and discuss their views on what impact robots would have if they were introduced to the horse world. This is a very interesting concept because horses are very intelligent and high touch creatures and they may not like a motorized robot to be near them at all – but there could be other uses, let’s see how the experts responded…and you’ll notice common responses/themes throughout.
“We created Equivont out of pure need,” stated Jessica. “I was planning to move to Florida and I was trying to find stables in the Tampa area, but the online research resulted in outdated and inaccurate information.” This frustration led to the idea to form a company that provides equine businesses with the tools and insights needed to have an online presence necessary to compete in the evolving online-shopping and ecommerce world.
2018 was full of new horse tech products and The Tech Equestrian was right there giving you first-hand information on the features, capabilities and advantages of each. As we experience the disruption of technology in our own consumer lives, the horse world is slowly waking up to the realities and possibilities technology can provide. For this year’s top ten blog posts - we looked at the highest page views to our site from each post to compile the top ten. From horse transportation to horse safety and performance wearables - these were some of the areas that interested you the most. If you haven’t had a chance to read, now is a great time to do so - a New Year is upon us and you don’t want to be left behind! Keep connected!
The technology world is constantly changing and with change comes questions and new ways of thinking. I’m happy to announce that in 2019, you will not be alone when it comes to questions and ideas about technology and how they impact you and your horse(s). Join me on a journey with our 2019 Advisory Board members who come from a host of backgrounds, expertise and experience and who have developed exciting products/services; apps; and wearables to help advance our equines health, performance and safety along with building an exciting new community of connected equestrians.
Fast forward to today and armed with a decade of research and development behind the company’s first product called FastTrack™, Horsepower Technologies Inc. is proud to announce the commercial availability of the world’s first rehabilitative orthotic device for horses. “We leveraged existing technologies from the aircraft and sports medicine industries to bring to a solution to the problems in the new, equine market.” explained Mouli Ramani, President and CEO, Horsepower Technologies.
As we enter the giving season, The Tech Equestrian would like to recognize the following the charities that give back each and every day to the horse world in many different ways. I hope you take a moment to review their websites and donate this year to a worthy cause or at least share and follow to keep up-to-date on how you can influence and help in your own way. Feel free to DM with others you’d like me to feature!
