Electrocardiograms (ECGs), and associated heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) measurements, are essential in assessing equine cardiovascular health and fitness. Smart textiles have gained popularity, but limited validation work has been conducted. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare HR and HRV data obtained using a smart textile system (Myant) to the gold-standard telemetric device (Televet). Simultaneous ECGs were obtained using both systems in seven horses at rest and during a submaximal exercise test. Bland–Altman tests were used to assess agreement between the two devices. Strong to perfect correlations without significant differences between the two devices were observed for all metrics assessed. During exercise, mean biases of 0.31 bpm (95% limits of agreement: −1.99 to 2.61) for HR, 1.43 ms (−11.48 to 14.33) for standard deviation of R-R intervals (SDRR), and 0.04 (−2.30 to 2.38) for the HRV triangular index (TI) were observed. A very strong correlation was found between the two devices for HR (r = 0.9993, p < 0.0001) and for HRV parameters (SDRR r = 0.8765, p < 0.0001; TI r = 0.8712, p < 0.0001). This study demonstrates that a smart textile system is reliable for assessment of HR and HRV of horses at rest and during submaximal exercise.

Electrocardiography (ECG) is an essential tool in assessing equine health and fitness. However, standard ECG devices are expensive and rely on the use of adhesive electrodes, which may become detached and are associated with reduced ECG quality over time. Smart textile electrodes composed of stainless-steel fibers have previously been shown to be a suitable alternative in horses at rest and during exercise. The objective of this study was to compare ECG quality using a smart textile girth band knit with silver and carbon yarns to standard adhesive silver/silver chloride (Ag/AgCl) electrodes. Simultaneous three-lead ECGs were recorded using a smart textile band and Ag/AgCl electrodes in 22 healthy, mixed-breed horses that were unrestrained in stalls. ECGs were compared using the following quality metrics: Kurtosis (k) value, Kurtosis signal quality index (kSQI), percentage of motion artifacts (%MA), peak signal amplitude, and heart rate (HR). Two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison tests was conducted to compare each metric. No significant differences were found in any of the assessed metrics between the smart textile band and Ag/AgCl electrodes, with the exception of peak amplitude. Kurtosis and kSQI values were excellent for both methods (textile mean k = 21.8 ± 6.1, median kSQI = 0.98 [0.92–1.0]; Ag/AgCl k = 21.2 ± 7.6, kSQI = 0.99 [0.97–1.0]) with <0.5% (<1 min) of the recording being corrupted by MAs for both. This study demonstrates that smart textiles are a practical and reliable alternative to the standard electrodes typically used in ECG monitoring of horses.