"We want to make equestrian sports understandable, transparent and trainable," says Alain Broft, director of EquInnoLab, one of the twelve innovation centers that recently became Certified Partners in the Sportinnovator network. The centers - meeting and breeding grounds of researchers, entrepreneurs, governments and sport organizations - should act as drivers of sport and exercise innovations in the Netherlands and beyond. 

The Sportinnovator program was established a number of years ago by the Top Team Sport, an initiative of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. The purpose of the program was to encourage innovations in sport, among other things by setting up innovation centers for various sports throughout the country. In the past year the goal changed from establishing new centers to issuing quality labels and setting up a network. 

Quality label and certification process
That change in direction made Sportinnovator attractive to EquInnoLab, an equestrian innovation center set up four years ago by Alain Broft and his wife Jenny Schreven. She herself is a successful dressage rider, while Broft has a background in technical business administration. A successful combination as it turned out. Broft: "The past four years we have been building our lab completely independently. Now we needed a quality label and participated in the certification process. We came through that well and now we can call ourselves Certified Partner of the Sportinnovator network."

"Because there was so limited knowledge, we also started doing more basic research ourselves."

As an innovation center, EquInnoLab. is built on four pillars, Broft explains. "We started as a field lab, with the goal of doing applied research. Compared to other sports, little knowledge had been developed in equestrian sports, for example, about the technique of rider and horse. Because there was so limited knowledge, we also started doing more fundamental research ourselves, our second pillar. Furthermore, we do education for athletes, coaches and judges and are also a training and talent center."

Link science and practice
What makes EquInnoLab. unique, according to Broft, is the direct link between science and practice. "We want to make innovations profitable, develop knowledge to solve problems. For example, we deploy our innovations directly in training supervision." As an example, Broft cites the development of new teaching methods and two MBO-Practorates that the lab developed with partners from education and business. The innovation center also developed a software system to analyze horse-rider combinations. 

One of Broft and Schreven's main projects is focused on talent recognition and development. This, according to the director, is still not being done much in equestrian sports. "This is about recognizing and developing the talent of the rider, but also of the horse. How we can optimally improve horses as athletes physically and technically is a relatively new insight in our sport. That is why we are now working on a project to train the riders and coaches of the future, who understand this development and want to work with it."

Top Sports
EquInnoLab. is also developing the necessary initiatives in the field of top-class sport. Broft mentions the names of several top athletes and coaches who came to his center for advice. "Dressage maestro Danielle van Mierlo always scores high at international tournaments, but saw that she could still make some gains on the part piaffe. We did a motion analysis of her piaffe with optical systems. Movement scientists then look for the symptoms and causes; are they with the horse, the rider or the combination. We have been in talks with the KNHS for some time now to use our developments for TeamNL."

The innovations developed by EquInnoLab. are very diverse and cover all aspects of sport. Broft: "In equestrian sports periodisation is still very new, for example, we are also researching this. But we also work on supporting judges and visualizing the technique of show jumpers and jumpers. And corporate responsibility we think is very important. That is why we are cooperating in a talent program in the region." 

Olympic Games
The innovations developed by the innovation center can bring many benefits to Dutch equestrian sports, according to Broft. "If it is up to us already at the upcoming Olympic Games. We have been in talks for some time with the KNHS to use our developments for TeamNL. We have also developed a project proposal for a horse climate chamber that imitates the conditions in Tokyo, that does not yet exist anywhere."

Article written by Jelle Zondag (22-10-2020), originally appeared on https://www.sportknowhowxl.nl/nieuws-en-achtergronden/nieuwsberichten/nieuwsbericht/124693/erkend-kwaliteitslab-innoveert-paardensport