Monitoring Horses in Stalls: From Object to Event Detection

TL;DR

This paper introduces a vision-based system using object detection and tracking to automate monitoring of horses and people in stables, aiming to improve early detection of health and welfare issues.

Contribution

It presents a novel prototype system employing YOLOv11 and BoT-SORT for real-time horse and human event detection in stables, supported by a custom annotated dataset.

Findings

Reliable detection of horse-related events achieved

System accounts for camera blind spots

Limitations noted in detecting people due to data scarcity

Abstract

Monitoring the behavior of stalled horses is essential for early detection of health and welfare issues but remains labor-intensive and time-consuming. In this study, we present a prototype vision-based monitoring system that automates the detection and tracking of horses and people inside stables using object detection and multi-object tracking techniques. The system leverages YOLOv11 and BoT-SORT for detection and tracking, while event states are inferred based on object trajectories and spatial relations within the stall. To support development, we constructed a custom dataset annotated with assistance from foundation models CLIP and GroundingDINO. The system distinguishes between five event types and accounts for the camera's blind spots. Qualitative evaluation demonstrated reliable performance for horse-related events, while highlighting limitations in detecting people due to data scarcity. This work provides a foundation for real-time behavioral monitoring in equine facilities, with implications for animal welfare and stable management.