Lexington, KY - Local GIS consultant Ben Koostra didn't know much about sport horses when the Kentucky Horse Park was chosen to host the World Equestrian Games four years ago, but these days, he has been keeping close track of some of the world's best equine athletes, and making it possible for spectators to do the same.
This marks the first year that GPS tracking has been used for an endurance event of this magnitude, and the foundation tapped Koostra's expertise in geospatial information and technology to make it happen. In addition to helping fans keep tabs on each competitor, the technology has also helped to ensure the health of the horses while providing accurate and up-to-the-minute distance information to the riders.
Endurance horse racing, which took place on a 100-mile course across private land in this year's Games, used GPS technology to allow spectators to follow the location of each team on the course throughout the race, and Koostra worked directly with endurance distance manager Emmett Ross to map out the course in the time leading up to the event.
Each horse-and-rider team was equipped with a GPS device slightly smaller than the average computer mouse. This device transmitted a signal from multiple satellites back to a server, determining each team's location by calculating their latitude and longitude on the earth. Spectators were able to view each team's location on large TV screens called "video boards," located throughout the Lexington Horse Park, multiple times throughout the all-day race.
For those not at the Horse Park who wanted to keep track of the race, this information was available through the Games' website as well, allowing spectators to follow the progress of the race as it happened, a privilege that had never been available to them until this year. They could track the distance between each team, as well as knowing which team was in the lead at any given time.
The technology itself was not new, according to Koostra. It had been successfully used not only to track UPS shipments, but also for sporting events such as marathons and the Tour de France. It had even been used in endurance horse racing a couple of times before, Koostra said, but never at an event of this magnitude. Raddery Equine Limited, a Scotland-based company that provides technology for endurance events all over the world, served as the GPS provider for the event.
Conveniences associated with this technology may not attract more spectators, Koostra said, but it does improve the spectator experience, for those on and off the course. Perhaps more importantly, it helps to determine if a horse is healthy enough to continue in the race. Aside from showing each horse's location, the GPS device used at this year's Games also kept track of each horse's heart rate.
"The key component of the entire sport is the welfare of the horse," Koostra said.
Riders benefited as well, acquiring information regarding the distance between key points - information which, Koostra says, was "extremely valuable" for them.
"The detail and accuracy of the mapping is better than riders have ever gotten before," he said. GIS information provided a very detailed map of the course, which passed through 22 separate farms, including 17 road crossings and 13 stream crossings. A map also showed potential obstacles such as roads, streams, property boundaries, and key checkpoints, which Koostra identified as "an important part of having a race like this."
In terms of Koostra's own career, the opportunity to be a part of this event has been a unique experience. Koostra worked for six years as a researcher for the Agricultural Engineering Department at the University of Kentucky. For the past three years, he has operated his own GIS consulting business, focusing on "geospatial information and technology," which involves using computer software to create maps. When asked what he does for a living, Koostra usually describes himself as a mapmaker, and his work "goes hand-in-hand with GPS technology."
During his time at UK, he used the same kind of technology that is being used at the Games this year. Instead of using it to track horses, however, he applied the latest mapping and positioning technology to keep track of agricultural crops. Now he still does work with GIS, but operates "more as a consultant," which includes current consulting work with a major railroading company in central Kentucky. Koostra's connection with UK led to his current affiliation with the World Equestrian Games, for which he was chosen to help design the course.
"I'm not a horse enthusiast," Koostra said, "and the sport horse world is new to me, but I've learned all different things about this world that I didn't know before. Ö It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience."