A team of University of Saskatchewan researchers is developing a one of a kind harness that could help save injured horses.
The team is working alongside RMD Engineering to find a way to rehabilitate the animals for a full recovery.
Currently, there is no equipment that could offer proper treatment and many of the animals have to be put down.
The prototype harness would strap around a horse and it would be wrapped around like a blanket.
Assistant professor Julia Montgomery said the slings that are being used right now can cause breathing problems in horses, but this prototype is secured around the horse and lifts it up and doesn’t affect any of its organs.
“It allows for mobility which means the horse can still walk around while attached to the lift. So it moves over this overhead crane that moves in all four directions,” she said.
Horses put about 60 per cent of their weight on their front legs, but Montgomery noted if one of those legs is injured, it will shift more weight onto one of its hind legs which can cause other health issues.
Racehorses are more prone to injuries to their limbs because of the amount of impact on their front legs, according to biomedical engineering master’s student Samantha Steinke.
“They’re meant to be athletic and run at high speeds. So when you’re running at a high speed, you’re more prone to impacting and possible damage to those structures,” she said.
Steinke personally knows the pain of losing a horse.
Her 10-year-old horse named Cash had to be put down after he stepped on a piece of metal in 2016.
She joined the project shortly after and is glad to be working on something she’s passionate about and is close to her heart.
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