Sunbelt Rentals’ Electric Equipment Helped Keep Horses Safe and Calm Ahead of Kentucky Derby, Company Says
Photos by Sunbelt Rentals
Sunbelt Rentals partnered with Churchill Downs Inc. in a pilot project to swap internal combustion engine machines with electric equipment to create a safer, more comfortable environment for horses racing in this year’s 149th Kentucky Derby.
In advance of the Kentucky Derby, Sunbelt Rentals provided Churchill Downs with four JCB Electric Telehandlers, one Toro E Dingo, and several energy storage system units. The equipment was utilized by the Churchill Downs backside crew to sweep barn rows, fill stalls, and move hay and feed, among other tasks happening in close proximity to the 1,400 horses housed onsite.
This electric equipment produces less noise and air pollution than the internal combustion engine equipment typically used by the backside crew. This is important for the health and safety of the horses, who are very sensitive to their environment.
“Providing the latest in equipment technology that reduces noise, improves performance and eliminates jobsite emissions was in the best interest of the horses and the individuals working alongside them at Churchill Downs,” said Brent Coffey, director of product line management at Sunbelt Rentals. “Sunbelt Rentals’ is leading the market by investing in electric and alternative fueled equipment, along with the supporting infrastructure, to ensure we meet the ever-changing needs of our customers and their jobsites.”
In the wild, horses use their sight and sound together to identify potential dangers. For horses in stalls, sudden and unidentified air and noise pollution like that of loud, internal combustion engines can cause fear and stress. This could trigger the horse’s flight response, creating a very unsafe environment for the horse, and anyone nearby.
Replacing these machines with electric equipment is a safe, simple, and effective way to minimize this risk and create a better environment for the horses. This, in turn, could improve a racehorse's ability to perform, according to Dr. Will Farmer, equine medical director for Churchill Downs.
“Horses are very keen to any kind of sudden environmental noise," said Farmer. “Noise contamination can potentially decrease a horse's performance.”
Preliminary feedback from Churchill Downs' staff indicates that this low emission, low noise equipment has had a positive effect on the horses.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.