HOW I MAKE IT WORK

In 2019 Kildare-based equine surgeon Jennifer Corley created an app which allows trainers and vets to keep track of a horse’s health. Here, the entrepreneur talks about her successful business and how it is on track to transforming the horse industry

Passionate about horses from the time she could walk, Jennifer Corley’s life goal was always to be a veterinarian and work with horses. This dream was realised when she graduated in Veterinary Medicine from Glasgow University and went on to specialise in Equine Surgery, including time spent in the prestigious University of Pennsylvania as a Thouron Scholar.

Jennifer spent several years in private practice both in the UK and in Ireland before a series of devastating events in 2010 turned her life upside down and put her on the path to becoming an entrepreneur.

“We had been trying for a family for a long time and finally after IVF, we were successful. Unfortunately I had a stillbirth and as I was recovering, I was involved in a road traffic accident,” Jennifer recalls.

This accident – where Jennifer sustained serious neck and back injuries – ultimately ended her bright career as an equine surgeon. “Life really hit a wall on every level at that moment,” she admits.

“When you lose a career you’re so passionate about, it feels like losing your whole identity. And at the time, we had no idea if I would ever be able to be a mother, it was a very dark place to be.”

However, Jennifer forced herself to regroup and reframe her future. “We were still hoping to go ahead and have a family – that required a lot of money for us. We had IVF to fund. And I had all this knowledge, I’d spent my whole life learning and devoted towards horse welfare, and really wanted to be able to use that, it was my entire life.”

This new focus resulted in her starting her own business with her husband, Kevin, who specialises in equine medicine and critical care. In 2017, the pair established their first company, Veterinary Advances, a medicationrelated database for equine vets which is now used as a standard tool by professional veterinary bodies in the UK and Australia.

“There are huge issues with 75% of farms still using pen and paper. Most of the farms I would turn up to as a veterinarian, there are no medical records, sometimes you can’t even identify the horse,” Jennifer explains.

“In the time of technology we live in it seems ridiculous that’s the case but it is. This app gives vets all the information they need for giving medication, looking at lab tests and it’s all available on your phone at the site of the horse.”

However, Jennifer wasn’t satisfied with stopping there. Passionate about horse welfare, Jennifer wanted to address concerns around medication and welfare in the equine industry. And so their second company, EquiTrace, was born in 2019.

She explains, “There were numerous scandals like the Panorama scandal around what happens to horses after racing, we’ve had trouble in the industry with drugs and testing, and the fundamental problem came down to testing, tracking and tracing. EquiTrace is a complete medical record that’s available at the site of the horse, it works with any scanner, any chip and any phone and is the answer to fundamental problems around traceability, identity, welfare and medication for each and every horse.

my ultimate motivation is to make a difference for the horses

TRACEABILITY

“In Ireland, trainers must record all the medications they use, but they’re doing it literally in a notebook.

“You can imagine what goes wrong with that, the yard cat goes to sleep on it, it gets leaked on, they’ve got eaten by the yard dog, and you’re also relying on everyone who works in the yard to

have good literacy and keep on top of all the paperwork.

“This app allows you to simply scan the medication directly from your phone on the go.”

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) accepted the app as a way for trainers to record medication which was another huge achievement for Jennifer, and the business also links the trainers in with best practice rules and guidelines via the app to help keep the industry compliant.

This year, the company was also recognised as just one of only four companies in the world to be approved by Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), the national authority for racing in the United States.

Recent legislation changes there due to horse welfare scandals means that trainers must now record any medication given to a horse within 24 hours.

“You can be banned from racing for two years if you get things wrong in the States,” Jennifer explains, “it’s a huge problem for trainers and veterinarians because that’s quite difficult to do, but a huge opportunity for us because our software is perfect for solving that issue, it’s very fast. We can do it on the go and they can meet this 24-hour target they have to get medications reported.

“I think it’s really good legislation and it’s going to make a huge difference to horse welfare.”

And while she has achieved phenomenal success as an entrepreneur, Jennifer admits it was a hugely daunting shift in career at the time, and says Enterprise Ireland’s “Going for Growth” programme was instrumental to the development of her business.

“All of my training is very technical and very scientific. We don’t really get any business training as veterinarians,” she says.

“Learning from female business leaders across different industries and having that network has been exceptional. They were able to teach me all the basics from funding to HR. Without that I don’t think we would have got the first company to where we are now.”

However, Jennifer adds the notion of female empowerment in business is only something she has come to learn the value of in recent years following her time in the Enterprise Ireland programme.

“There aren’t many women in the space I’m in now. But I came from being an equine surgeon, where at a conference I might meet just three other women.

“And actually having come from that background I was a bit sceptical about this notion of female empowerment or female leadership and the importance of having female mentorship, that it didn’t matter.

“But actually it is different. Women are great at being very collaborative and helping each other. They’re very supportive, and I can now see the difference. It is easier to speak up, to ask a silly question.

“There’s also challenges that female entrepreneurs have which male entrepreneurs don’t.

“I was told at one point in our journey, ‘oh, you need a wife’ and you know what? A wife would be really useful because we don’t have the same back-up. We’re having to juggle everything. We were lucky and we went on to have our family in the end, but there’s no doubt that the burden of trying to find that work-life balance and make sure that everything’s taken care of does fall heavier on females. So being able to speak to other people who are mothers and have been through those same struggles is helpful.”

MAKING REAL CHANGES

While she admits that imposter syndrome among female entrepreneurs is a very real challenge, Jennifer says she is very proud of the changes she is helping to make in the equine industry.

She adds, “We won Best Veterinary Technology in the Enterprise Technology Startup Awards. We work with some of the top safety authorities, farms and organisations in the world, and being recognised as one of four companies worldwide to be integrated with HISA was a phenomenal recognition.

“Having this data is enabling us to make advances in veterinary science. Before we were missing the data, now we have a solution where we can crack a lot of big problems and can advance research and make real changes. I think being part of that change is what I really enjoy, because that’s my ultimate motivation is to make a difference for the horses.

“Ireland is one of the top producers of quality horses in the world and we’re also home to some of the biggest tech companies so it just feels very fitting that we’re leading the way in bringing the industry into the technological era. It’s a great thing to be involved in.”