THE RESEARCH

CWD-VetLab: connected riding finally has its LabCom.

On Friday 14 July 2017, during the Longines Global Champions Tour in Chantilly, a partnership agreement was signed, officially creating the CWD-VetLab. As fighter jets headed to the Champs Élysées to mark Bastille Day, another revolution was being celebrated in Chantilly: the pooling of research to promote the well-being of the horse and improve the performance of horses and their riders.

The CWD-VetLab, the first joint laboratory combining a veterinary research unit and a company dedicated to sport horses’ and riders’ equipment, is supported by the ANR (the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche).

A shared theme: connected riding.

“This is a major event in CWD’s history, a cornerstone in our development. We are sealing a partnership, a long-term commitment. We are part of a dynamic of innovation, research, publications and new products. An overarching dynamic that will obviously benefit the company but above all the entire equine sector, based on the two pillars of the well-being of the horse and the performance of the horse and its rider,” explained Laurent Duray, CEO of CWD. “By combining the business world, the university and research in a cluster system which is well-known in Silicon Valley, around the theme of connected riding, we are guaranteeing a sustainable economic model” says Pauline Martin, Doctor of Biomechanics, head of CWD’s R&D department and co-director of the CWD-VetLab.