SoundHorse · SoundHorse: Rhythmicity-based acoustic biomarkers for equine welfare

Horses play essential roles in agriculture, sport, therapy, and recreation. The global equine industry is worth over $300 billion annually; just in the US, $1 billion are spent each year on managing lameness—a gait abnormality caused by locomotor disorders. Lameness is a leading cause of injury, premature death, and reduced performance in horses, raising serious animal welfare, economic, and societal concerns. Lameness has also extremely high prevalence, potentially affecting between 30% and 70% of the 60 million horses on earth. Earlier detection could prevent catastrophic outcomes, reduce suffering, and lower financial risk.This project aims to enable early, non-invasive detection of developing lameness using gait-generated sounds. We will build SoundHorse, a smartphone-based telehealth app for prescreening equine gait health. Leveraging signal processing and statistical tools developed during our ERC Starting Grant, SoundHorse will: 1) record hoof-fall sounds via a standard smartphone; 2) analyze the rhythmicity and structure of the gait; 3) compare it to a reference database of healthy horses; and 4) generate a “gait health score” to inform the user; 5) if warranted, recommend veterinary follow-up.Unlike costly systems requiring invasive sensors or expert handling, SoundHorse offers a scalable, affordable, and user-friendly solution. If successful, it will deliver broad ethical, environmental, and economic benefits, namely: 1) reduced equine suffering and mortality; 2) extended working life of horses, reducing breeding and CO2 impact; 3) decreased financial losses for owners; 4) fewer animal and human injuries from undetected lameness; 5) better allocation of veterinary care. By democratizing access to early screening, SoundHorse could transform equine health monitoring at a critical time for both animal welfare and climate-consciousness.