The reality that gave birth to Hippik
In the racehorse market, tens of millions of euros change hands every year at yearling sales where the buying decision is made in a matter of minutes, in front of a horse, on the basis of a visual assessment. That assessment relies on the eye — an expert eye, but a human eye. It is by nature subjective, context-dependent, exposed to cognitive bias and impossible to fully transmit to a client or a partner.
In parallel, buyers have become more demanding. They want to understand what they are sold, to compare what they buy with what exists, and to verify the consistency of a decision. Expert words are no longer enough: they must be documented.
Our approach
Hippik is not a robot deciding in place of the expert. It is a measurement tool: from a single side photograph, we automatically identify the horse's key anatomical landmarks and compute 6 reference biomechanical angles (shoulder, elbow, back, hock, fetlock, pastern). Each measurement is then compared to a statistical distribution to position the horse within its cohort. See all Hippik features.
The expert keeps the decision. Hippik provides the measurement, the statistical context and a report shareable with the client.
The founding team
Judith Nikly, CEO and co-founder, is an agricultural engineer and rider. She built her expertise working with horses internationally and across multiple disciplines (racing, sport, breeding), giving her a transversal reading of the industry's uses and pain points. She carries the voice of the field in product design.
Théo Fleury, CTO and co-founder, comes from software engineering and artificial intelligence. He designed the computer vision pipeline that detects the horse's anatomical landmarks, as well as the statistical positioning layer. His obsession: that the measurement be as rigorous as what a human expert would expect.
Our supporters
Hippik's development is supported by the Région Normandie, Normandie Incubation, the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the European Union. These partnerships allow us to fund ambitious R&D in computer vision applied to the horse, in connection with experts of the equestrian world.
Get in touch
A question, feedback, a partnership opportunity?
Write to judith@hippik.io or follow us on LinkedIn.
Publisher
Hippik is a product published by ABC OPTIM, a company registered in Paris (11 rue Lagarde, 75005). ABC OPTIM develops decision-support tools for professionals confronted with high-stakes subjective assessments. Hippik is its first vertical, dedicated to the equine world.