We provide extensive data analytics to racing jurisdictions and sport horse governing bodies around the world. The research focuses on the concerns of that governing body, for example factors such as fatalities or fractures, and results in real world improvements in horse welfare through rule changes and policy development. We improve the predictive ability of our work by including novel datasets that are closely linked to the outcome of interest, thus better enabling us to identify horses at risk and preventing often life-threatening injury. A developing research focus from this group is to utilise the same big-data analytical techniques to look at performance outcomes, which will provide both trainers and veterinary surgeons key areas to consider when optimising race performance.

The clinical veterinary research from this group centres around the diseases that affect racehorses, and how these impact health, welfare, or athletic performance. Although the research is wide ranging, Bristol is renowned for its respiratory related research. We have a long history of collaborative research drawing expertise from other disciplines. Bristol Vet School in conjunction with Bristol’s Engineering department developed the first overground endoscope in the world. This is considered to be one of the significant clinical advances in equine sports medicine in the last decade and is now in widespread use Internationally. More recently we have collaborated with leading exercise physiologists and human respiratory consultants to research the role of the respiratory muscles in athletic performance and understanding upper airway function during exercise. We are currently developing a collaboration with experts in machine learning to bring advanced analytics and machine learning to cardiorespiratory conditions affecting the racehorse.

An additional research area in development is equine sports medicine ethics. The ethics of sports medicine is an important area within human medicine and biomedical ethics, which has been neglected within the veterinary field. We are undertaking ethics research which we hope will have substantial impact leading to national and international policy development.

The team includes: Tim Parkin, Kate Allen, Euan Bennet, Tom Zuffacine