Speaker Series: Dr. David Lambert

Dr. David Lambert spoke to Joe Hirsch Speaker Series students on March 29, 2023, about the science behind horse movement. Dr. Lambert is an expert in equine sport physiology, consults with clients on purchasing horses, and currently focuses on his company, StrideSafe. He also spoke at last December’s Global Symposium on Racing on the panel, “Advancing Equine Safety Through Technology”.

Dr. Lambert spent much of the session discussing StrideSafe and how it can flag horses with potential issues and how it can all racing stakeholders. He explained how each horse has a physiological “footprint”, dependent on the angle of their strides and the modeling of their bones. Through a sensor placed in the saddle cloth of the racehorse, StrideSafe is able to track the movements of a horse’s stride and detect deviations from what their models have determined to be normal. RTIP students have had first hand experience with this technology through its use at Rillito Park in Tucson, Arizona.

Dr. Lambert also spoke to students about his involvement in selecting young horses at sales. He relayed how he determines the grow patterns of young equine athletes from weanlings to yearlings to 2-year-olds. He stated that his data can help to predict the heritability and performance of a future racehorse, which is beneficial to his clients in securing a profit on their horse purchases.