Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/814818
34 M AY/J U N E 2 017 U N TAC K E D TECH SPOTLIGHT V isit any barn, at really any hour of the day, and you're likely to hear some version of the same conversation: "What blanket are you putting on him?" Blankets are a source of anxiety for most owners since, unless your horses start either shivering or sweating, it's impossible to know if they're a comfortable temperature. Enter Orscana, which aims to take the guesswork—and a lot of the anxiety—out of your blanketing protocol, while also keeping track of your horse's overall movement and health. e product was developed by French company Arioneo and came on the market about six months ago. Arioneo founders and lifelong friends Valentin Rapin and Erwan Mellerio have a background in horses, with Rapin studying business in college and Mellerio studying biomechanics. "ey had the passion for horses, and they realized there was a massive gap in the market," said Claire Buchanan, manager of Orscana in the United Kingdom. "ey started to look at, from a biomechanics perspective because that's what Erwan was into, the performance of horses—really looking at heart rate and respiration, looking at how you could look at stride patterns and split times in race horses. at's a product we're still working on called Ecumetre." Ecumetre will likely hit the market in early 2018, with the first version targeting the racing industry. "at was where the company started," said Buchanan. "But as we were developing this, we realized there are lots of issues to do with the care of horses at rest, never mind performance. We got involved with some research around thermoregulation and the damaging effects we humans have on our horses without really realizing it. Pros and amateurs alike, we all over-rug our horses out of kindness. e problem is we rug them as we feel the cold, and they don't feel the cold the same way we feel the cold. We have very little tolerance to cold or heat, but horses have a massive range where they're comfortable. "We're all about the science behind this," she added. "It Too Hot Or Too Cold No More e Orscana sensor takes the guesswork, and the stress, out of blanketing. B y L I S A S L A DE