The Raddery Diskmark vet-gate heart rate monitoring system was developed to provide a transparent, consistent, and accurate method of measuring and publicly displaying the heart rate of a horse during the veterinary inspection of an endurance horse race.
How it works
A horse is presented to the veterinary
doctor in the vet gate. The sensor handle is placed on the left chest wall of the horse and the system activated. The system analyses the electrical activity of the heart by measuring a sample of beats and displaying the average of that sample in a beats per minute format. A further sample is then analysed and the result displayed.
The veterinary doctor maintains contact with the handle and horse for a prescribed period of time to obtain an assessment of the heart rate within the parameters for that particular race, usually 64 beats per minute. Once satisfied that the heart rate is comfortably and consistently within the prescribed range in the specified time, the sensor handle is removed and the rate recorded. If the heart rate is outside the required values, if appropriate the horse is asked to represent within a period of time.
Advantages
The system provides a totally objective method of accurately assessing the heart rate of every horse in an endurance race. Each horse is assessed using exactly the same criteria with no scope for human error to affect the result. The system is managed throughout the race by Raddery Diskmark technicians who provide a further third party unbiased validity to the process of openness.
The process of heart rate measurement becomes totally open with the information displayed to all spectators, crews and riders. This enhances the spectator element within Endurance races as well as adding a further dimension to the competitiveness of the race.
GPS Horse Tracking System
The competitor to be tracked carries a GPS/GPRS-unit. The position of the unit is determined by the use of GPS satellite signals captured by the unit. The units mobile phone facility continuously transmits the position back to the Raddery Diskmark server, and the position, movement and speed of the person tracked can be displayed on a large screen or on the internet.
The unit weighs approx. the same as a mobile phone (<100 gram). Due to the low weight the unit can easily be worn by a rider without compromising performance.
Raddery Diskmark’s flexible and easy-to-use software makes it possible for anyone with a connection to the internet to follow the tracking and see the
movements of the participants – in real-time!
In addition, the software has several play-back functions that enables the user to see, replay and analyse tracking data at a later point in time.
The Horse tracking system provides the following advantages :
Increases the spectator involvement in Endurance Horse Racing.
Provides safety monitoring of all Competitors—emergency help button
Can be “patched” to third parties such as t.v. comentators
Able to highlight individual competitors
Able to watch live on web
Able to review race in archive
Provides security of race by policing activity of all competitors during race
Automatic Timing System
Here we describe an automatic timing system which has been used in thousands of competitions world wide mainly within the sport of human marathon running.
The horse is equipped with a lightweight transponder attached to a “neck strap” or girth loop. A signal is generated when the horse crosses over a “wire” embedded in the
ground. This signal is relayed to a central computer and is recorded as an episode within the customised timing programme.
Wires are placed at strategic positions within the vet-gate / start / finish areas to collect data of horse movements.
FEATURES OF THE SYSTEM
Lightweight chip unit attached to horse
Accurate (capable of recording over 150 competitors per second)
Unlimited number of horses in competition can be recorded
Fast and effective updating of data (real-time)
Ability to share information with broadcasters, paper printouts etc.
Available data can include individual race position, average speed, presentation times etc.
“Airport-style” departure display at “out gate”
Transportable.
Computerised Vet-Gate Recording System
This system provides the organisation committee of an Endurance Horse Race with a comprehensive system of centrally recording all activities and results of examinations carried out at the veterinary examinations of the competing horses within the race.
These units of data are currently recorded on card records, held by an appropriate official during the race and re-issued
to the individual veterinary doctors at each examination of the horses, this practice can cause considerable delay in the vetting process, paper / card records can temporarily be mislaid (their custodian may be temporarily absent from the site), incorrect records have been known to be issued and similar problems may arise from time to time. Data from the cards is not immediately available for analysis by organisers and can only be collated by a laborious task of data input.
This system aims to provide the users with a totally coordinated facility of electronically inputting data and retrieving data of all vet-gate activities immediately after the data has been recorded. The input of the data is carried out as the examination takes place by a “vet writer”. On completion of the examination, the record is signed off by the Veterinary Doctor and sent to the central server.
The records are electronically archived for official record purposes and can be accessed retrospectively for data analysis.
Adjudication System
This system provides a confidential method of recording and disclosing the majority voting of the Veterinary Doctors.
The system provides 3 hand held units hard wired to a central control box. These units have 2 buttons – Green = Pass; Red = Fail. Each Vet. picks a hand held unit at random and records their vote by depressing the appropriate button.
A fourth hand held unit is provided for the ground Jury member. This unit contains 3 lights and three buttons indicating the following sequence:
1) First light – white - illuminated following all votes lodged.
2) Second and Third light show pass or fail majority vote.
When first light is illuminated, jury member presses release button to show majority vote on second or third light position.
When jury member accepts vote, second button is pressed and result is displayed on Red / Green lighting unit visible above appropriate lane for spectators to view.
Third button resets unit, illuminating white light indicating re-assessment of foul vote.
Advantages
The principal advantages of this system are:
Removes the presence of small slips of paper which can be lost.
By removing paper and evidence of individual voting, total confidentiality is maintained.
Provides immediate result to competitor and spectators.
Increases spectator involvement in vetting process of endurance Horse race.
Due to random selection of hand held units, confidentiality of individual voting is provided to Veterinary Doctors.
