The horse industry is bringing a revolution in horse breeding to Slovakia. It is a sector that is not only relevant to animal care, but also relates to the topics of environment and energy. Viktor Kvachan, the founder of EHOSS, talks about the potential and benefits that modern technology brings to the world of horse breeding for owners, as well as for the state and other industries.
Horse industry and horse Engineering are lesser-known concepts in Slovakia. How can we understand them?
Technology is gradually entering all aspects of our lives. Horses are no exception, although due to conservatism, the technological aspect of horsemanship is underdeveloped. With each new generation, this is gradually improving under the so-called “horsetech”. This includes intelligent video systems for animal tracking, the integration of various sensors into horse harnesses and riding apparel, and various software. However, horse Engineering is a new industry that we are starting in Slovakia, the purpose of which is to use the potential of the equestrian industry in other sectors.
What was your path to horses? When did you realise there was room to start a business in this area?
As a child, I had a dream to change the world of horses for the better when I saw the conditions in which horses lived in my grandfather’s village. Over the last twenty years, I have helped various companies around the world automate their businesses, and I have used this experience to create new engineering solutions. There were a lot of farmers in my customer portfolio, many with their own farms and stables. Thus, in 2021, we launched a project and formed a team to bring together science and technology within the world of horses.
What makes the horse industry and horse Engineering so interesting? What is their potential?
There are about sixty million horses in the world. The horse industry is a global enterprise with an estimated value of $300 billion, and thanks to horse Engineering, it has the potential to grow several-fold. This introduces technologies that will solve the issues of energy and environmental science as well as the quality of feeding, safety and comfort of horse breeding.
Photo: Ehoss
How are horse breeders responding to technology in relation to breeding these animals?
The new generation needs innovation and wants to have everything at their fingertips, right on their phone. At the same time, horse owners are not satisfied with the quality of stables and hay, or the way their animals are fed. Our slogan is “Creating the Aesthetic of Equine Life”, which to us means safe breeding and the health of the horse. By changing and improving the quality of the hay, adjusting individual nutrition, and controlling everything that happens in the stable, customers save a lot of time and money. With our solutions, they have everything from horse care to feeding, health, and analysing the horse’s living environment right on their phone. We also have our own laboratory for the analysis of hay, water, food, and horse manure. This allows us to adjust the functioning of our platforms as accurately as possible, and to look at the problem from a scientific perspective.
In addition to improving the quality of horse breeding, your technologies simplify the work of your clients in some ways. How?
Our solutions organise and significantly reduce the work of the people in the stable. It is also about reducing hay losses, and the possibility of reusing sawdust and straw for bedding in the stable. A non-negligible component is the opportunity to dispose of horse manure with the potential for profit. Horse manure is a raw material for the production of biogas and organic fertiliser, which farmers use in their fields. There are eighteen equestrian clubs with a little more than a thousand horses in the Bratislava region alone. If we convert the everyday horse manure into raw material for biogas production, we get 500,000 cubic metres of gas per year, which, converted to modern tariffs, amounts to about 250,000 euros. The environmental aspect is just as important.
Photo: Ehoss
What are your company’s other activities? Do you plan to expand them?
We are currently focusing on the production of two platforms – the first solves the problem of feeding the horse, the second the disposal of horse manure. We test all solutions in real conditions in our own stable, we have our own horse, and we cooperate with other stables in Slovakia and abroad. We want to create an integrated system for monitoring the stable environment and the horse’s body, but we are also interested in the problems related to the transport of horses and horse trailers.
What are your visions for the future, perhaps in terms of linking horse Engineering and “green issues”?
Horse Engineering is a “living bonus” of the European Green Energy and Food Strategy, the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. It develops new industries and service organisations by creating jobs in the regions, which is why it is important for us to also involve state institutions in this industry. We are open to cooperation with public and private institutions, educational institutions, as well as financial institutions and investment funds. As a result, we are able to unlock the full potential of the equestrian industry as one element of the national strategy.
This text was created in cooperation with client.
