Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

Does this baby have SatNag? – a passion wagon to wow the local mares. And it doubles as a ‘keep fit for foals’ device!

Galloping global sales look guaranteed for Turkish-based Kurt Systems, which harnessed the horse sense of Brentwood company Roush Technologies for a pioneering training and fitness aid for racing animals.

Make way on the rails for Ed the Torque-ing horse and HenrytheSatNavigator as this technology takes off. The ground-up, turnkey project involved the design, development and build of a highly complex mobile race trainer that enables continuous monitoring of the animal at speeds of up to 60kph and is like a horse hospital on wheels.

The machine incorporates a number of innovative and unique vehicle systems, as well as a diesel engine, automatic transmission and a spacious luxury cabin for a crew of three.

Weighing in at around four tonnes, the vehicle effectively provides a moving enclosure similar to a starting stall, in which the animal can walk, trot or full gallop freely in a controlled environment, whilst being monitored and trained to optimise race performance. The spacious cabin, mounted rearward of the horse, includes a centrally mounted driver’s seat, plus additional seats for a trainer and a veterinary specialist.

Onboard systems include 12-volt and 240-volt electrical supplies, to power systems such as computerised heart, blood, oxygen and fitness monitoring. 

The unit also carries a range of precision hydraulically controlled accessories, such as a silicone saddle to simulate jockey weights.
The open fronted stall section of the vehicle requires linked independent hydraulic steering, combined with electronically controlled reins, to steer the horse in the same direction as the vehicle. 

The reins are enclosed within two forward curving booms on the body structure, controlled by the driver.

The chassis and running gear comprise a complex, box-section, cross-braced frame, with suspension derived from a Ford F150 series truck.

Power is provided by a Volvo 2.4litre, five-cylinder diesel engine, driving through a conventional automotive automatic gearbox – and final drive is delivered via hub reduction on the rear axle only.
 
Speed is precisely controlled from walking pace up to race conditions, up to a maximum 60kph (16 metres per second).
The purpose-built body is fabricated primarily from GRP – Glass Reinforced Plastic or better known in the trade as glass fibre, with the forward ‘stall’ area enclosed by soft, padded, pneumatically controlled arms that surround the horse when required.