Don't laugh but unlike the headlines we used, the Kurtsystem machine is not actually a roller coaster for recreational horses after racing. Kurtsystem on the other hand is a machine used to train racehorses to train without a jockey behind them. The video below that went viral on Reddit this week has many wondering what its function is.
This system was created by Mehmet Kurt, a horse trainer from Turkiye. In the early stages the Kurtsystem consisted of a carriage with room in front for a horse. According to Kurt, young horses are in for a shock when they start training to become racehorses. A rider's mistake when training a young horse can cause it to suffer injuries that can destroy its potential.
With the Kurtsystem training is done in stages with the machine initially pulling the horse slowly to run in an oval circuit. It encourages the horse to comfortably run on the circuit and with weights replaces the jockey in the saddle. Young horses will undergo months of training using the Kurtsystem before gradually transitioning to human jockeys.
There is a health and performance tracking system on each Kurtsystem that can train 10 horses simultaneously. An attendant controls the Kurtsystem to press the emergency button in the event of an emergency with the system stopping slowly to prevent injury.
The cost of building the Kurtsystem reached $25 million (~RM115 million) but with the price of well-bred racehorses reaching tens of millions as well, it may be a future investment that could be profitable for trainers.
