How tech is helping our sport restart – with future benefits

Innovations in scoring and other areas could help in the long term

- LUCY ELDER

NEW technology is to help horse sport return and keep people safe in the wake of Covid-19.

Government guidance to prevent the spread of the virus meant a rethink was required for equestrian sport to return safely.

Governing bodies and organisers have come up with logistical solutions, such as dressage judges bringing writers from their own household or “bubble”. But also, innovators have come up with simple-to-use technology that is hoped will help shows get back up and running, and provide longer-term solutions and improvements.

Little Downham is trialling a fence-judging app ahead of its British Eventing (BE) fixture, which feeds into the computerised cross-country control system the event already used, both designed by Benjamin Unwin.

“When we started to think about sport resuming we said, ‘How is fence judging going to work with two-metre distancing?’” Sarah Skillin of the event organising team told H&H.