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Sleip

The IHRB is now using the gait analysis system, Sleip, as part of our raceday veterinary checks within the Suitability to Race process.

Sleip is an AI-enabled video-based tool that helps measure small differences in how a horse moves during a standard trot-up. It provides additional information to support the Veterinary Officer’s clinical assessment. It does not replace clinical judgement, and it does not make decisions — the Veterinary Officer continues to decide whether a horse is suitable to race.

 

The system may be used where movement findings are subtle or where comparison over time is helpful. Its purpose is to support consistent assessment and to make discussions clearer between the Veterinary Officer, trainers and treating veterinary surgeons.

 

The introduction of this tool forms part of the IHRB’s ongoing work to reduce the risk of injury and to strengthen raceday welfare and safety standards.

 

An FAQ explaining how Sleip will be used is available below. We welcome feedback at [email protected]

 

  • The IHRB is adding use of an AI based gait assessment tool to their Suitability to Race process. Nothing is changing about the decision-making framework or the Veterinary Officer’s authority and responsibilities under the Rules.

    What is changing is that, where appropriate, the Veterinary Officer may use Sleip as an additional tool to record and quantify gait asymmetry from a trot-up video. It is an adjunct to the existing clinical assessment, not a replacement for it.
     

  • Sleip is a markerless, video-based gait analysis tool. From a short smartphone video of a horse trotting, it provides an objective measurement of movement asymmetry and indicates which limb(s) is most associated with that asymmetry.

    Sleip does not diagnose the cause of asymmetry (for example pain, injury, conformation, surface effects). It provides information that may assist clinical judgement.

     

  • No,  Sleip is simply additional information that may help the Veterinary Officer provide background to their professional judgement.
    • The Veterinary Officer remains responsible for the Suitability to Race decision based on the full clinical picture, exactly as now.
    • Sleip does not generate a “fit/unfit” or “suitable/unsuitable” decision.
    • There is no automatic threshold and no “computer says no”.

  • No, the Suitability to Race decision remains a clinical judgement made by the IHRB Veterinary Officer under the Rules.

    Sleip does not make decisions, direct outcomes, or override clinical judgement. It is used to support judgement and communication—particularly where:
    • findings are subtle,
    • there is uncertainty,
    • a trainer wishes to give the IHRB information about a horse in their care ahead of a racing engagement, including where another Racing Authority has requested this, or
    • a comparison over time is helpful.

  • Sleip may be used by the Veterinary Officer when gait concerns arise during routine or enhanced pre-race veterinary inspections, as part of Suitability to Race.

    It may also be used to help create a profile for a horse, so that current movement can be compared with previous recordings when useful.

    Key point: Sleip is used selectively and proportionately as part of veterinary inspection, not as a blanket “new test”.
     

  • Suitability to Race decisions sometimes depend on subtle observations where reasonably informed people can disagree about what they are seeing.

    The additional measurement helps the Veterinary Officer show and explain what they are concerned about, rather than relying only on a visual impression. In practice this should:
    • make discussions clearer on raceday,
    • help compare a horse with its own previous movement where relevant, and
    • reduce situations where uncertainty alone leads to a precautionary decision.
    The intention is not to add another hurdle to running a horse, but to make the basis of decisions easier to understand and discuss.

    As part of the Suitability to Race programme, Sleip gives more information and therefore confidence in allowing a horse to run – in its absence a precautionary approach must be taken.
     

  • Yes, the veterinary literature relating to objective gait asymmetry measurement (including markerless video approaches) as an adjunct to clinical assessment consistently shows that:
    • Objective gait methods improve sensitivity to asymmetry and consistency versus visual assessment alone,
    • Clinician visual assessment has material inter-observer variation,
    • Markerless video methods can produce measurements comparable to inertial sensor systems (i.e. physical body-mounted sensors),
    • These systems can operate reliably outside laboratory settings, and
    • Repeat measures over time can improve interpretation by identifying meaningful change.

    Objective gait analysis is now used widely in clinical orthopaedics and has been introduced in a number of racing jurisdictions as part of veterinary welfare and safety processes. 

  • When the Veterinary Officer considers it helpful:
     
    • A horse is trotted up as usual on the designated inspection surface 
    • A short video is taken (requiring a calm, consistent trot for sufficient strides).
    • The Sleip output is reviewed alongside the Veterinary Officer's clinical findings. 
    • The Veterinary Officer discusses the position with the trainer or representative.

    Sleip is used to support what the Veterinary Officer is already doing: Observe, examine, consider history, and form a judgement on suitability.
     

  • No, Trainers may be invited on an optional basis to share videos between runs where they wish to support earlier or ongoing discussion, as they do now, only it will be via Sleip. This is voluntary and is intended to support welfare and constructive engagement, not to create additional obligations.

    Not submitting videos will not in itself disadvantage a trainer or horse.
     

  • All trot-ups contain variation; that is equally true for visual assessment, but Sleip has been developed to even this out. The practical value of objective measurement is that it reduces subjectivity by providing a datapoint that can be discussed and, where relevant, compared with earlier recordings.

    Any Sleip output is interpreted in context. It is not treated as a standalone determination.
     

  • Sleip is introduced to support Suitability to Race clinical assessment and communication. It does not create any new offences, rules or obligations and is not an enforcement system.

    As with other regulatory observations, the Veterinary Officer’s records form part of the overall raceday regulatory record. They may therefore be referred to where relevant within existing processes, but Sleip itself is not determinative of any regulatory breach.

     

  • Access is restricted within the IHRB veterinary function for Suitability to Race and related welfare and safety purposes. Where relevant, the findings can be shared with the trainer so that the trainer can consult their own veterinary surgeon.

    The IHRB does not publish individual outputs and does not share them as a matter of routine with third parties, including owners.
     

  • No, the intention is to support fair, informed decisions by helping interpret movement at a point in time and, where useful, by looking at change over time.

    The existence of a record does not predetermine future outcomes. Each raceday decision is made on its merits.
     

  • The IHRB veterinary team will have Sleip available from 26 March 2026 and can demonstrate how it is used in practice. Trainers are encouraged to ask the Veterinary Officer on duty if they would like to see it in operation or understand how outputs are interpreted.