Let’s see how we are doing? I’m sure you’ve heard this question from your trainer as you progress over time on something you are working on improving - and we know improving anything when it comes to riding is a journey! So with that in mind, I asked The Tech Equestrian Advisory Board for their thoughts as it pertains to horse tech adoption during these challenging times. This was the 2-part question:

a)    Due to COVID-19 do you think equestrians are more open to leveraging technology? 

b)   What new features have you added to your product/service? 

a) I think that COVID is forcing everyone to be more open to technology. I've watched my young children's teachers cope with shifting from the classroom to the Internet and know first-hand that the need for technology right now is real. So - yes, I think that equestrians are being forced to use technology more now than ever. For example, trainers and managers have had to use technology to help them figure out how to schedule within the constraints of social distancing and other limitations posed by this coronavirus' threat. 

b) We released a new User Interface for our online software in late March. That improvement turned out to be timely as more people turned to the online software since they were unable to maintain their normal travel and teaching schedules. We have started work on an expanded scheduling tool for our software. The current crisis has made us try to accelerate the process, and also to include certain aspects that will be useful to trainers, managers and customers during this current "distanced" episode.  

- Kate, StableSecretary

a) Yes, we do definitely think that COVID is driving openness towards tech and digitization especially. We have seen an increase of usage of our systems of 250% in the last months as our customers were more dependent than ever to monitor their patients (horses) continuously or from afar due to separate shifts they took or limited staff in the clinics. We also felt that the market overall was way more open and receptive towards our solution as they experienced the positive effects of modern digital solutions day-to-day. 
We hope that this shift will be sustainable to enable continuous growth of digitalization and more tech support in the industry to better service of our horses. 

b) We have launched a large update to our iOS App to enable even more features and the full monitoring portfolio to your smartphone. Additionally, the smart alerts to be notified as soon as some vital signs of the horse are out of range were improved and allow for even better monitoring from afar.

- Dorina, Piavita

a) With every new app, if you really want to use it correctly, you need the time to review how you want to put your data into it. With COVID, a lot of people have a lot more time on their hands. I've seen a tremendous increase in sign ups and usage. I've seen sign ups from around the world double along with more horses added per week than in previous months. In addition, the number of posts and photos in the app have increased 10x in just a couple months. I've had to purchase more storage, which is a good problem.

 b) The Equestrian App has added 5 major feature releases over the past 5 months. In about another week I'll be putting out an update with more new features requested by my users. Here are the new additions since the beginning of the year:

· A new Marketplace so that you can search for Equine Businesses. Need a new farrier? Just search for it. Need a new boarding barn? Just search for it. It's now in the app!

· More new data. We have over 15,000 equine businesses added from around the world in the equine business search.

· If you're a horse trainer, you're now covered in our Equine Business Feature. Schedule client horses, capture notes about your training sessions, costs and more!

· If you're an equine business owner that gives riding lessons, then you'll just love our new update. We have just released features for the busy instructor to help them manage their business day to day. From scheduling students, horses and trainers, you have a master calendar that gets shared with everyone. Then, after the session, you can record your notes and send the student suggestions on what they should work on until the next training session.

· New feature for creating a single journal entry for multiple horses. Great for vet or farrier visits.

· New feature on Ride Tracker on saving a current ride for multiple horses. Great for when you pony another horse on a ride.

· Our users asked for it, support for multiple photo uploads on a single post.

- Patrick, The Equestrian App

a) From what I’ve witnessed, the demand for real-time connected classes (through a camera and a microphone) has increased during this time period.

b) I haven’t added any new features yet on the mobile application. However, I’ve started the marketing of a highly qualitative equine food (no GMO, no molasses, raw ingredients selected for their nutritional qualities). I believe this crisis teaches us how important it is to consume quality products, respectful of the environment and well-being.
- Ann, Tagalo