New Device Gives Healing Horses a Lift

Researchers and engineers in Saskatchewan hope a robotic lift system will help to improve the odds for horses recovering from limb fractures and other traumatic injuries.
The scientists who are all from the University of Saskatchewan U of S have teamed up with RMD Engineering a local Saskatoon engineering and manufacturing company to design and build the unique technology. The lift will help rehabilitate horses suffering from acute injuries and other musculoskeletal problems by providing mobility weight distribution and support. 

The teams leader is Dr. Julia Montgomery a large animal internal medicine specialist at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine WCVM. She and her colleagues are combining their expertise to find a solution for horses that sustain lifethreatening injuries. 
Research team members include professors from the U of S College of Engineering an equine biomechanics specialist from the College of Kinesiology and Montgomerys husband James a boardcertified veterinary radiologist. 
RMD Engineering owner Jim Boire says his company is built around the desire to find solutions to seemingly insurmountable problems. He has been involved with many other innovations at the U of S including the WCVMs bovine tilt table a hydraulic device for lifting cows and a large animal positioning system for the Canadian Light Source synchrotron.
When we meet people like James and Julia Montgomery that we get to work with it just makes us smarter. We really push hard to make it a team we run things as projects and everybody has their role says Boire.
Hundreds of horses are fatally injured and euthanized every year in North America due to racetrack injuries and a large majority of these injuries are skeletal fractures. But even horses that are used for pleasure riding can break a leg. 
After a horse undergoes surgery to fix a leg fracture its normally confined to a stall