MECHANICAL HORSES
Guaranteed not to buck, bite or kick, a mechanical horse might just give you the ride of your life. Charlotte Cooper looks at the horse of the future
RACING AGAINST FRIENDS at a charity dinner, trying out the tack at a major saddlery store, or replicating riding the course at Badminton — mechanical horses are great fun and make many seemingly impossible things possible. However, they also have a serious role to play in rider training, education and rehabilitation.
Today’s simulators are used by equestrians of every level and in sports as varied as vaulting, polo and eventing. They are informing equine research into rider biomechanics, helping to educate jockeys about new whip rules and they continue to evolve as a rider support tool.
Bill Greenwood developed the first Racehorse Simulator (RS) back in 1990. He had been approached by a well known jockey who wanted to maintain his riding skills and fitness while recovering from injury. This led to the creation of the Racewood brand, a British company that is still the world’s only business making mechanised simulators for consumer use.
From that first, basic unmotorised model, the development of simulators has been immense. These phoney ponies are now capable of Olympic level dressage moves, sulky racing and giving the rider the impression of jumping up to 1.20m — and all without the need to set foot in a manège.
Taking over the world?
There are 650 computerised Racewood horses out in the world, according to Lottie Edwards of Cheshire-based Racewood. Three eventing simulators, Racewood’s most advanced design, belong to the Ministry of Defence and are used to train members of mounted regiments in flatwork, how to jump in an arena and ride across country.
The most popular motorised Racewood is the dressage model, with around 60 based in the UK. Many are at Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) centres, one with the Metropolitan Police and dozens more in universities — including Hartpury, Hopwood and Sparsholt — and also at riding schools and even in tack shops. Naylors has five at stores across the country. There are a couple of vaulting models in the UK — the biggest market is in Germany — and a few polo versions. No British yards have a trotting racing sim; they are the most popular in Scandinavia.
Built for speed
Sims first entered the market as a tool for the racing world, with Racewood’s initial RS machine spawning several similar models from other companies.
Race training machines that work using the kinetic energy of the body are still widely used across the industry to teach, exercise and rehabilitate jockeys of all levels
