This lyric sums it up! I am on the quest to discover all I can about computer sensor technology, and at the same time, I am writing to you from my hotel room just inside the Oregon border as I travel to meet a veterinarian for pressure testing on Friday the 26th.
Who makes sensor pads? And who uses them anyhow? Should we?
When I first became SERIOUS about acquiring a computer sensor pad -- last December -- I started with an internet search, and then contacted anyone with good information about sensor pads, or who made sensor pads. I talked to many people and also to three companies - one in the U.S., one in Canada and one in Germany; each company markets an equine pressure pad for prices ranging from $7,000 to $25,000. All are medical companies who have taken the pressure sensor technology developed for patient applications (think: reducing bed sores, or creating wheel chairs that are ergonomic) and offered them for equine applications. The major value-add is in the software. The hardware (the pressure sensor pad and computer) aren't very different in human and equine environments. While pressure pads are catching on in parts of Europe, they are almost unheard of here in the U.S. I wonder: is this well overdue? Or could it be that we, as American consumers, don't embrace fact and science when it comes to our relationships with our horses?
What does the computer do and why is it important?
First of all, any tool is just that, and even the data yielded by the computer needs to be filtered by an expert. Here's what I'm talking about, in a very limited explanation. The sensor pad measures pressures underneath the saddle and displays them graphically and in some cases numerically. We have learned that pressures as low as 1.5 psi (pounds per square inch) can occlude blood flow - which depletes oxygenation of the muscle, which can lead to tissue degeneration or atrophy. The location of the pressure point is important though. The density and pliancy of the horse's muscles are important also. So too is the distance from the surface of the skin to blood vessels or to bone which of course differ under various areas of the back. This means that there is no absolute pressure point scale. The information (science) yielded by the computer must be intepreted by an expert in the (art) of saddle fit. See where I'm going? Combining science and art yields the best result.
Food for Thought
Two very thought-provoking questions were asked on Facebook yesterday, both from reputed experts in the equine field. One said essentially, "who needs a computer? the horse will tell you everything you need to know". I think this is true - except if the horse's owner cannot read the messages, or if the horse is so stoic that he won't express pain. I got involved in saddle fitting for a variety of reasons, but one of the most compelling was the woman who asked me to check her horse's back. He was tied to her trailer, saddled. She removed the saddle, exposing his bloody withers. Yes - she was concerned. But she wasn't lying on the ground nursing her injuries and wondering why the horse had thrown her...he was continuing to work for her. Of course she didn't need a computer to tell her that she had a serious problem, but other owners of these sorts of horses might. The other question was from a highly regarded and skilled fitter who wondered why use a computer because you should be able to feel the problem with your hands, see it with your eyes, and design a saddle system to solve the problem. Perhaps this person doesn't need the computer. But many of us with lesser education or lesser abilities might need a tool that lets us know definitively that we have a problem. With this information, we can find experts (perhaps this saddle fitter) who can make our horses more comfortable.
What is the End Goal?
As the months have passed, I confess that my hopes for this technology are growing. I'm beginning to wonder about how it might be possible to take pressure pads out of the closet and into the mainstream. The cost of the pad is prohibitive, but the potential benefit to horses' comfort (and owner's wallets!) might be immeasurable. Although I started the process thinking I was shopping for a tool that would help me to train saddle fitters and do product development while it was earning its keep as a sales tool for RP saddles, I find myself beginning to think on the global (or at least national) plane. More on this later. For now, I'm out to acquire the basic information.
This Week's Mission
A series of contacts led me to a veterinarian outside Portland, Oregon. She purchased a sensor pad a few months ago, and is willing to work with me for most of one day to introduce me to this lower-end system. Local dressage trainer Janet Aungier agreed to host our testing session, and has lined up a series of horses for us that have supposedly well-fitting conventional saddles. On Friday morning, we'll assess each horse and saddle, scan the saddle as the horse is ridden, and the replace the conventional saddle with a ReactorPanel saddle (fit on the fly as there is a very limited amount of time for this exercise) and then repeat the scans of the same horse and rider in the different saddle. We're scheduled to visit Hilary Clayton's lab at Michigan State University and repeat these experiments in a few weeks with the highest-end system, the Novel-Pliance pad from Germany.
Here are some things I hope to learn this Friday (based on the results I may have a revised list for our sessions in Michigan):
- How easy it it to use the pad and computer? Does it seem robust?
- Do you need a background in physiology to understand what's happening or is it obvious and transparent to everyone?
- How long must we test to get a meaningful profile?
- How much difference is there between the best moment and the worst moment? And what is happening at best and worst - can we extrapolate that sitting trot is likely to be good and posting trot is bad, for instance?
- Is it possible to give a saddle a fixed score that tells you where that saddle sits relative to other saddles?
- Does RP test out exceedingly well? Of course I hope it does as I have based the last decade of my life on this premise...but I vow to be a good scientist and conduct our experiments as accurately as we can do and live with the results.
I'm very much looking forward to the exchange of information on Friday, and will keep you posted about what happens.
Note to readers:
I find I'm struggling a bit with what information to present here. If you're curious about something, please use the comments section to ask questions as I'm happy to go in whatever direction you need.
Next Topic: The pressure-testing session this Friday!
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