As the world continues to evolve and change in uncertain times, digital transformation is a buzz. In our riding, transitions are critical to managing a horse’s balance, collection and alertness – although the concept is simple, progression may be hard. The same applies to integrating and understanding technology and its benefits applied to our equine partners. What exactly does digital transformation mean and how does it apply to the horse world? First, let’s define it – see below - and then ask our experts on the TTE advisory board how it is being integrated into everything horse related.

Definition: Digital Transformation is the use of new, fast and frequently changing digital technology to solve problems. It is about transforming processes that were non digital or manual to digital processes. One of the examples of digital transformation is cloud computing. (source: Wikipedia)

For digital transformation to be successful it must revolve around the customer – and how a business interacts with its customers to deliver a consistent experience whenever and wherever they need it. Thanks to mobile devices, apps, machine learning/automation and more, customers expect to get what they want with the touch of a button.

July question:
We've been through a transformative year already - with rapid adoption of technology than ever before, what would be your definition of 'transformative' as it relates to horse tech? 

I believe that as a result of the pandemic, people in general have a better appreciation now for technology which should speed up the adoption of real time connected horse tech products by equine enthusiasts, trainers and breeders. For vets, it opens up a whole new opportunity to evolve the reactive approach of today’s equine medicine model into a preventative model of care. 

-       Alan, Steed

Transformative means a change in the game. It means a substantial change that makes it hard to turn back to the way things were before the change was made. And if that isn't the most accurate way to describe what this pandemic has meant so far, I don't know what is. Sometimes technology forces transformation, and sometimes outside circumstances pave the way for transformative technologies. This has been an example of the latter. We are seeing horse show offices embrace no or low touch methods of operating by embracing great technology products that have been on the market for quite some time. We are seeing an influx of equestrians looking to go paperless to adapt to this shift as well, which leads them to technology products like BarnManager. I do believe that these changes are transforming the industry and priming equestrians for even more innovative and transformative equine tech to come.
-       Nicole, BarnManager

The uncertain and unfortunate circumstances surrounding the pandemic have been a catalyst for innovation and adoption of horse tech. Equestrians on the whole are now more comfortable using technology as a tool to simplify their lives and streamline workflow processes - horse related or otherwise. Key transformations include the widespread implementation of virtual learning and connection opportunities as well as further adoption of digital invoicing and payments. Equestrian businesses who utilized our StriderPay™ payment processing tech grew their revenue by 43%, despite any challenges presented by COVID-19. That’s an exciting number, and provides a hopeful forecast for the future of horse tech. As barn managers and facility owners adopt more automated processes, we’ll see even more applications of engineered solutions for our industry.
-       Natasha, Strider

When I think about transformative technology, I think about hardware and software that challenges the status quo of a society. A good litmus test for determining if something is transformative is to ask yourself, is this ahead of its time and does it both excite and scare me? If the answer is yes, then I think it’s transformative. If the answer is no, then I think it’s an advancement, but not necessarily transformative.

Historically, the equine community has been driven largely by tradition and the norm, but the covid pandemic has challenged all of us to think about the “new” or the “next” norm, and I am personally excited to see how this $300B+ global industry will change and adapt. In the case of the NIGHTWATCH® smart halterTM, we consider ourselves a transformative technology because we are challenging the status quo when it comes to optimizing health and performance outcomes in horses. Not only does the smart halterTM have the ability to automatically alert someone to early signs of equine distress (eg, colic, foaling, being cast), it offers real-time objective insight on-demand for better decision making by vets, trainers, breeders, and owners. No longer do we have to rely solely upon intuition alone. We can now trust empirical biometric and behavior evidence on a horse’s wellbeing to shape training programs and promote early referral & intervention of suspected problems to limit downtime, injury, and potential loss.

Our mission at Protequus® is to not only improve health and performance outcomes in horses, but to also transform the larger animal health market (ie, companion animals and livestock) through data science and predictive analytics.
- Jeffrey, NIGHTWATCH

As it relates to horse technology, transformative can be defined as technology that makes fundamental changes (hopefully improvements!) to the way a process is performed. This isn’t always a comfortable transition, and can sometimes be a fearful undertaking, but in most cases once you are on the other side of the transformation you don’t know how you ever lived without it. Half the battle is taking the first step.

HorseLinc has been hard at work during this unpredictable time to help transform how individual horse trainers and barn managers think about how they run the business side of their business. This is often shared generation to generation in the horse industry, and it is time to step out of our comfort zones to look at the adoption of new technologies and what they can do for each of us in the industry.

- Misty, HorseLinc