Overview of Career Technologies

In this business, there are a lot of beneficial advancements in technology.  One of them being automatic waterers.  Automatic waterers are wall-mounted bowl, able to fill up again after a certain amount of water has been drunk from the basin.  They provide fresh clean water, with a rapid refill, without you having to worry about your horse running out.  Some basins can even come with heating coils around the bottom, so that they can still provide for you horse in the coldest of climates.  This has helped many people from having to lug sloshing buckets of water, or pounds of dirty hose.  Overall, an excellent advancement in technology.

Another piece of equipment that has proved to be beneficial in most racing barns is the equine hot walker.  Hot walkers are machines that turn very slowly and walk horses around in a circle at a specific speed.  The horse is tied at the end of a long pole, which is attached at the other end to the rotating portion of the machine.  The poles are set at a specific length, in order to keep the horses a safe distance away from each other, allowing multiple horses to be walked at once.  The Hot Walker provides a slight but constant pull, which forces the horse to keep walking.  If enough force is out against it, the hot walker has a mechanism, which will allow the walker to be stopped.  This prevents accidents and makes sure that no harm can be done to the motor.  This is also necessary in case a horse has to urinate, or if one were to become unable to move.  Hydrotherapy is also an excellent advancement in technology. Hydrotherapeutic treadmill systems consist of, well a treadmill, whirlpool, and swimming pool.  It is designed for therapeutic strengthening, healing, conditioning and training of any type of horse.  Using the Equine hydrotherapeutic treadmill has many benefits.  It can encourage better granulation, improve circulation, develop the horses gait so that it stays more consistent, reduce any swelling or inflammation, and it has an analgesic effect (the ability to reduce or take away pain).

Detailed Overview of Specific Technology

At some point in its life, a horse will experience an injury, whether it being serious or not.  Most times, the healing process of these wounds can be very slow and tedious.  Hydrotherapy can be beneficial in healing, as well as it being in a safe and low impact environment.  Some people have said that “There’s something almost spiritual about the healing properties of water” (HydroHorse, Karen Briggs).  Water has the ability to sooth, draw away inflammation, and any infection from the injury.  It is just a bonus that it is doing it in a very natural way.  However, this piece of equipment has not always been this technologically advanced. For centuries before this was invented, the use of seawater was recognized to help with the treatment and prevention of leg problems in horses.  Many great horses would not be competing if it were not for the benefits of training in the surf on the beach.  The cold seawater helped in particular because it has an anti-inflammatory effect, which improves healing and helps to prevent injury.  People also used to cold-water hose their horse’s legs. Cold water hosing, a common treatment for many leg ailments, cools the skin surface, but the temperature is uncontrolled and might not be cold enough to affect the places most often involved in leg injuries. Conveniently, now, that feeling, temperature, and pulsating movement is simulated all into one piece of equipment.

Assessment of New Technology

Hydrotherapy has a great deal of benefits, to its name.  For a great deal of equine injuries, hydrotherapy can really help the time of the healing process increase.  It can be more effective than even the most advanced of our lotions, medicines, or electronic gadgets. Hydrotherapeutic treadmill systems consist of, well a treadmill, whirlpool, and swimming pool.  It is designed for therapeutic strengthening, healing, conditioning and training of any type of horse.  Hence the name, Equine Hydrotherapy. Unlike the traditional method of equine swimming pool therapy, the horse is exercising using its natural gait, in a controlled environment, whilst exercising the same muscles that are used in on land training.  The “water treadmill” also maintains and enhances the conditioning and training of horses in a safe environment.  Most treadmills are composed of about 20 Jacuzzi jets, putting 5 on each leg.  They also all have a manually controlled water temperature system, so that you can tighten their ligaments with cold water, or loosen them with warm.  The buoyancy in the water supports the horse’s body, while still allowing enough compression, and pressure to build up bone density and strength in the muscles. In addition to building strength, this machine helps to maintain their cardiovascular fitness, and they are kept interested with the concept of this new activity.  Some racehorses have even been known to have faster running times after undergoing hydrotherapy. This is just one example of success. Horses that specialize in anywhere from reining to dressage have had great benefits from therapeutic conditioning.  

Futuristic Vision of Career & Technology

In the career of riding, technology has developed immensely over time, and it is guaranteed that it will continue to grow in years to come. My prediction is that in the future, technological equipment will become smaller, easier and cheaper for the consumer to use on a daily basis, ensuring the health of their horse is maintained without having to call in expensive specialists. 

   

For example, small wrist watches that monitor a human’s heart beat will be applied to the equine industry, and a device will be developed that can allow the rider to maintain a healthy heart rate in their horse while still riding.  Currently, the only way to monitor the horse’s heart is to dismount and use a stethoscope.  If they could apply the technology that is used to monitor a human’s heart rate and combined it with a girth, maybe they could have the same kind of heart band idea.  It would rest across the horse’s chest, on about the same place where you would put a human’s. I expect there will be lots of crossovers in technology into the equine world, as people constantly look for new ways to improve their animal’s health and well being.