Sleip releases “Trends” feature for longitudinal gait analysis

Sleip is thrilled to introduce its new Trends feature, making it easier for equine professionals and caregivers to visualise and monitor each horse’s movement health over time. This accessible overview of historical gait data, provides the team around the horse with insights for managing performance, well-being, and long-term health.

Each horse’s unique movement pattern – their “motion fingerprint” – can now be tracked and visualised, providing valuable documentation and making it easier to catch even subtle shifts. 
Longitudinal gait analysis data offers great value, explains Elin Hernlund, DVM, PhD, and co-founder of Sleip.

"By establishing a baseline for each horse, we can interpret gait data within that horse’s natural patterns. This is invaluable, as most horses have minor asymmetries that don’t necessarily indicate issues. But when asymmetry increases in response to an increased workload, or an existing pattern shifts, we’re able to identify it early, enabling more precise vet checks, as well as preventive care and targeted interventions.”

Individual baselines for decision support

For competition horses, longitudinal data to track movement patterns over time is especially valuable. Small changes in symmetry – often imperceptible to the human eye – can indicate stress or minor injuries that, if unaddressed, could impact future performance. With Trends, these changes in a horse’s normal movement pattern can prompt timely adjustments to training or medical care, safeguarding both the horse’s health and competitive potential.

“The racing industry, for example, is increasingly using longitudinal gait data as part of the management routine and to support decision-making in pre-race vet checks,” notes Elin Hernlund. “Trainers monitor horses with Sleip and are also able to provide regulatory vets with baseline videos and gait data before race day. This collaborative approach gives both trainers and regulatory vets more insight, with individual references for each horse.“

Streamlined health management for equine teams

Using the Trends feature, each asymmetry measurement is mapped in a chronological trend graph and users can quickly see how these metrics evolve. For the team around the horse, the accessible overview of historical measurements is useful both for evaluating the effects of intervention, but also as documentation to support referrals and dialogue around an individual horse’s health and performance. Physiotherapists tracking a horse’s recovery, for example, can use Trends to demonstrate progress, while farriers can monitor gait changes that reflect the effects of shoeing adjustments. Higher levels of asymmetries are automatically flagged for referral to a veterinarian.  

Proactive monitoring of the horse’s gait

The Trends feature builds on Sleip’s core capabilities, with precise asymmetry measurements and the ability to invite others to record horses from any location. For veterinarians, farriers, physios, and trainers, being able to invite others to record through the Sleip app makes it easier to secure regular measurements. 

“This builds longitudinal documentation while allowing veterinarians and other health professionals to stay updated on a horse’s progress between visits. Trainers and professional riders operating from different sites or with horses “on the road” to competitions also find it useful to have a groom or assistant record the horse remotely to make sure they are doing well”, says Elin Hernlund.

As we continue to innovate, our commitment remains to expand access to Sleip’s technology, so more horses benefit from the power of data and informed, proactive care.