Locomotion in horses refers to the movement mechanisms that enable horses to walk, trot, canter, and gallop. It involves a complex interplay of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems, allowing for efficient and coordinated movement. Studies on equine locomotion often focus on gait analysis, biomechanics, and the impact of various factors such as conformation, training, and surface conditions on movement. Research in this area contributes to understanding performance, diagnosing lameness, and improving rehabilitation practices. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the biomechanics, gait patterns, and factors influencing locomotion in horses.
Summerley HL, Thomason JJ, Bignell WW.A rider modifies the weight distribution and dynamic balance of the horse. But what effect does a rider have on the mechanical behaviour of the hoof during each stance phase? Does riding style have any effect on this behaviour? We attempted to answer these questions using strains recorded from 5 rosette strain gauges glued to the surface of the front hooves of 4 Warmblood horses. Comparisons were made between strains with and without a rider, and when the rider was sitting, rising at a trot, or in a forward seated position. The change in strains from trot to lead or nonlead at a canter, and th...
Thomason JJ.Objectives were to examine the deformation of the healthy equine front hoof during locomotion, by recording strains on its outer surface, and to test whether its mechanical behaviour is significantly altered under different locomotory conditions and variation in hoof shape. Strains were recorded in vivo from 5 rosette gauges around the circumference of the right forehooves of 12 horses. The magnitudes and orientations of principal strains at the midstep were compared statistically for different conditions of shoeing (shod vs. unshod), gait (walk vs. trot), substrate (treadmill vs. ground), and...
Lanovaz JL, Clayton HM, Watson LG.This study was designed to test the impact characteristics of the equine digit in vitro with the objective of providing a better understanding of the role of the digital structures in the attenuation of impact shock. Uni-axial accelerometers were mounted on cadaver digits on the distolateral hoof wall, the proximolateral hoof wall, the dorsal surface of the second phalanx, and the mid-lateral first phalanx. The hoof-mounted accelerometers were aligned with the hoof tubules while the bone-mounted accelerometers were oriented along the longitudinal axis of the bone. Each digit was mounted in a t...
Reilly GC, Currey JD.During locomotion, the anterior cortex of the equine radius is loaded predominantly in tension, the posterior predominantly in compression. The anterior cortex is relatively strong in tension, the posterior in compression. We investigated the pattern of failure of specimens from the two cortices using laser scanning confocal microscopy. All specimens were loaded in four-point bending to increasingly higher loads. We quantified the amount of diffuse microcracking on the tensile side of these specimens by observing the amount of light emitted under laser illumination. The amount of light emitted...
Pourcelot P, Audigié F, Degueurce C, Denoix JM, Geiger D.This study was conducted to evaluate a method for quantifying the flexion-extension movements of the back of horses trotting on a track in the conditions of the clinical lameness examination. Using a 3-D kinematic analysis system, the successive positions of four markers placed at regular intervals between the withers and the tuber sacrale were recorded. To isolate the flexion-extension movements of the back, the positions of these four markers were recomputed in a trunk-related co-ordinate system of the horse. Then, for each frame, the equation of the third-order polynomial that best fitted t...
Galisteo AM, Cano MR, Morales JL, Vivo J, Miró F.The influence of speed and height at the withers on some biokinematic stride parameters (linear, temporal and angular) was measured in 15 Spanish Thoroughbreds (Andalusian Purebred) trotted hand-led along a track; analysis was made of the correlation between speed and height at the withers and of some biokinematic parameters of equine locomotion. Both height at the withers and speed were positively and significantly correlated to the linear parameters examined. Temporal parameters did not reveal a significant correlation with the height at the withers. The correlations with the angular paramet...
Peham C, Licka T, Mayr A, Scheidl M, Girtler D.Treadmills are widely used in equine motion analysis. For the evaluation of the trot of a horse, a trotting speed with low variation between motion cycles is necessary to make the measurements reproducible. The aim of this study is to show how an individual 'optimum' trotting speed for lameness quantification can be determined. In this study, the stability of a horse's gait pattern was evaluated by calculating the standard deviation (S.D.) of motion-cycle speed (MCS). In trot, eighteen horses were analysed at several speeds. The measurements were taken with the ExpertVision System (Motion Anal...
Biewener AA.The stresses acting in muscle-tendon units and ligaments of the forelimb and hindlimb of horses were determined over a range of speed and gait based on recordings of ground reaction forces and limb kinematics. Maximum stresses of 40-50 MPa were calculated to act in several of the principal forelimb (superficial digital flexor (SDF), deep digital flexor (DDF), ulnaris lateralis (UL) and flexor carpi ulnaris/radialis (FCU/R)) and hindlimb tendons (plantaris, DDF) at the fastest galloping speeds recorded (up to 7.4 m s-1). Smaller stresses were found for the gastrocnemius (GAST) tendon (30 MPa) a...
Maĭboroda SN.Study of the variability and heritability of sprightliness and exterior characteristics which are the constituent factors of capacity for work of trotting horse breed, permits predicting and planning the direction of selection work in the breed, and determining the efficiency of animals selection according to phenotype. To increase the level of capacity for work of Orloff trotting horse breed, according to the paper data, more consideration should be given to correctness of the exterior, as a biomechanical basis of the horse motion.
Licka T, Peham C.The spinal movements in maximum arching, dipping and left and right lateral flexion were measured in 10 horses without signs of back pain. A system for motion analysis (Expert Vision System) was used to identify the position of the markers placed on the head, the spinous processes of T5, T10, T16, L3, and on 2 of the sacral spines. By definition, the maximum of the spinal movement was set when the T16 marker reached its maximum deviation from the start position. The difference between start position and maximum position was presented as per cent of the horse's height at the withers. At T16 the...
Minetti AE.By refining a previously published model, a simple equation for the estimation of the mechanical internal work during locomotion is presented. The only input variables are the progression speed, the stride frequency and the duty factor, i.e. the fraction of the stride duration at which a foot is in contact with the ground. The inclusion of this last variable, easily measurable, allows to obtain a single equation for both walking and running. The model predictions have been compared with the mechanical internal work experimentally obtained on humans in several conditions: speeds (range 0.8-3.3 ...
Audigié F, Pourcelot P, Degueurce C, Denoix JM, Geiger D, Bortolussi C.To evaluate asymmetry in placement of bilateral skin markers on horses and to determine effect of asymmetric skin marker placement on kinematic variables for trotting horses. Methods: 10 horses for evaluation of asymmetry in marker placement; 1 horse for evaluation of effects on kinematic variables. Methods: Asymmetry in marker placement was assessed by attaching markers to horses and comparing radiographs of left and right limbs. An experimental model was developed to determine effects on kinematic variables; accuracy of the model was validated experimentally. Using kinematic data from a clin...
Schroter RC, Marlin DJ, Denny E.Exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH) in horses, although of major welfare and economic importance worldwide, is of uncertain cause. It is accepted that the dorsocaudal region of the lung is particularly prone to the condition, but present theories of causation cannot satisfactorily explain the mechanism or pattern of occurrence. We propose that EIPH results from locomotory impact induced trauma; the mechanism being similar to that producing lung tissue damage following thoracic impact injury. In impact injury, the localised impulsive load on the chest wall is transmitted by pressure w...
Potard US, Leith DE, Fedde MR.Thoroughbred (TB) and draft horses (DH) have long been selected for tasks of very different intensities and force-speed relationships. To study their adaptations, we measured O2 consumption and related variables in three TB and four DH during progressive exercise tests on a level treadmill. The horses exerted a draft force of 0, 5, 10, 15, or 20% of their body weight at speeds that increased by 2 m/s every 3 min until they could not maintain that speed. We found that TB could exert the same draft forces as DH and, at each force, TB achieved about twice the speed, twice the external power, and ...
Douwes RA, van der Kolk JH.The use of dimethyl sulphoxide in equine medicine is discussed with special reference to trauma of the central nervous system, chronic endometritis, trauma of the locomotor apparatus, and ischaemic bowel pathophysiology. The ability of dimethyl sulphoxide to reduce connective tissue formation might be of interest in abdominal surgery. The anti-inflammatory effect of dimethyl sulphoxide is used in the treatment of muscle trauma, tendinitis, laminitis, and arthritis. Dimethyl sulphoxide can potentiate the effects of other drugs. The most common dose is 1 g/kg body weight intravenously up to a 40...
Becker CK, Savelberg HH, Buchner HH, Barneveld A.To evaluate clinical and biomechanical consequences of desmotomy of the accessory ligament (AL) of the deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT) of equine forelimbs and determine whether this procedure is a viable treatment for chronic desmitis of the AL-DDFT. Methods: 6 adult Standardbred trotters. Methods: Biomechanical recordings obtained before and 6 months after desmotomy were compared. Walk and trot joint angles, ground reaction forces, peak joint moments, and tendon forces were assessed. Results: Within 10 days after surgery, all horses were sound at a trot. Swelling, increased carpal flexion i...
Gabriel A, Yousfi S, Detilleux J, Dessy-Doizé C, Bernard C.Navicular bones collected from the four limbs of 95 sound horses were studied. The anatomic bases have been laid down about morphometry of the navicular bones and their variations according to limbs, after corrections have been made for morphologic type, gender, weight, size and age. All the dimensions of the navicular bone (except for the thickness) were larger in the fore limb. This phenomenon probably reflects an attempt to compensate for the greater forces exerted upon the fore limbs during exercise and at rest. Navicular bones collected from the four limbs of 61 sound horses were studied ...
Pourcelot P, Audigié F, Degueurce C, Denoix JM, Geiger D.This study was conducted to evaluate a method for quantifying locomotion symmetry at trot in sound and lame horses. Using a 3D kinematic analysis system, the kinematics of the limb joints of sound and lame horses were recorded. The differences in motion between the left and right homologous joints were then quantified using a symmetry index based on an inter-correlation method. This method was used to calculate the symmetry indices of the vertical displacements and angle-time diagrams of the joints of each horse. In order to evaluate the sensitivity of this method of quantifying the locomotion...
Muñoz A, Santisteban R, Rubio MD, Vivo R, Agüera EI, Escribano BM, Castejón FM.The physiological and metabolic adaptations to exercise of the Andalusian horse seem to differ slightly from those found in other breeds. The authors studied the locomotor adaptation of 18 Andalusian horses to a training programme in relation to anaerobic energy metabolism, efficacy of the training programme, and changes associated with the onset of fatigue. They also tried to find out if these changes had become diminished by training. Several locomotor variables during trotting and galloping were determined and plasma lactate concentrations were measured before training and after two trainin...
Ainsworth DM, Smith CA, Eicker SW, Ducharme NG, Henderson KS, Snedden K, Dempsey JA.In exercising quadrupeds, limb movement is often coupled with breathing frequency. This finding has lead some investigators to conclude that locomotory forces, associated with foot plant, abdominal visceral displacements or lumbo-sacral flexion, are the primary determinants of airflow generation. Analysis of respiratory muscle electrical activation (EMG) and contraction profiles in chronically instrumented dogs and horses, along with measurements of esophageal pressure (Pes) changes and limb movements, provide evidence that each breath during the exercise hyperpnea is determined by respiratory...
Keg PR, van Weeren PR, Schamhardt HC, Barneveld A.A pressure-sensitive device was developed to measure the force applied to flexion tests of the distal limb of horses. The mean force applied by a group of experienced clinicians was 150 N which results in a moment on the flexed fetlock joint of about 28.5 Nm. The coefficient of variation of the force applied by one experienced clinician was only about 12 per cent, but the coefficient of variation between clinicians was considerably higher (20 per cent), irrespective of whether the clinicians were considered to be experienced or not. The mean force applied by a group of women examiners (114 N) ...
Harkins JD, Queiroz-Neto A, Mundy GD, West D, Tobin T.This report describes the development of a behaviour chamber and the validation of the chamber of measure locomotor activity of a horse. Locomotor activity was detected by four Mini-beam sensors and recorded on a data logger every 5 min for 22 h. Horses were more active during daytime than in the evening, which was at least partially related to human activity in their surroundings. To validate the ability of the chambers to detect changes in activity, fentanyl citrate and xylazine HCl, agents well-characterized as a stimulant and a depressant, respectively, were administered to five horses. Fe...
Hubbell JA, Hinchcliff KW, Muir WW, Robertson JT, Sams RA, Schmall LM.To determine the effects of walking, standing, or standing with a splint on 1 forelimb on rate of recuperation of horses after a brief, intense bout of exercise. Methods: 6 adult Thoroughbreds (435 to 542 kg). Methods: Horses were preconditioned by exercise on a treadmill to establish a uniform level of fitness. Once fit, the treadmill speed causing each horse to exercise at 120% of its maximal oxygen consumption was determined and was used in simulated races at 14-day intervals. Horses were instrumented for collection of arterial and mixed venous blood samples for measurement of acid-base sta...
Vorstenbosch MA, Buchner HH, Savelberg HH, Schamhardt HC, Barneveld A.To study the role of head movements in lame horses. Methods: 11 Dutch Warmblood horses. Methods: A 2-segment 2-dimensional inverse dynamic model of trotting horses was developed: trunk and head/neck segment joined in a neck joint. Model input consisted of averaged segmental inertial properties and averaged kinematic data, taken from 11 horses, trotting on a treadmill (3.5 m/s) in 3 conditions of induced lameness: sound, mildly lame, and moderately lame. Dynamic and static effects were analyzed. Results: Dynamic effects were found to be considerably larger than static effects. In the moderately...
Hagiwara K, Momiyama N, Taniyama H, Nakaya T, Tsunoda N, Ishihara C, Ikuta K.Sero- and molecular-epidemiological studies on Borna disease virus (BDV) infection show that BDV RNA is not always detected in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from serum anti-BDV antibody-positive individuals such as horses, sheep, cattle, cats, and humans. In this study we demonstrated BDV RNA signals by polymerase chain reaction only in restricted regions of the brain from horses with locomotor disease. Four of six horses examined showed apparently positive reactions for anti-BDV antibodies. Specific regions of the brain of these four horses were positive for BDV RNA but the i...
Birch HL, Wilson AM, Goodship AE.Tendons that store energy during locomotion, such as the equine superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) and human Achilles tendon, suffer a high incidence of central core degeneration which is thought to precede tendon rupture. Although energy storage contributes to the efficiency of locomotion, tendons are not perfectly elastic and some energy is lost in the form of heat. Recent studies have shown that the central core of equine SDFT reaches temperatures as high as 45 degrees C during high-speed locomotion. In this study, we test the hypothesis that hyperthermia causes tendon cell death and ...
Galloux P, Barrey E.Thirty horses were filmed with a panning camera operating at 50 frames/s as they jumped over a 1.20 x 1.20 m fence. The markers of 9 joints on the horse and 7 joints on the rider were tracked in 2D with the TrackEye system. The centre of gravity and moment of inertia of each segment were calculated using a geometric algorithm and a cylindric model, respectively. The kinetic moment of each part of the horse was calculated after filtering, and resampling of data. This method showed the relative contribution of each body segment to the body overall rotation during the take-off, jump and landing p...
Johnston C, Drevemo S, Roepstorff L.This study investigated the kinematics and kinetics of the carpus during the stance phase. Five Standardbred horses trotted on a treadmill at 8.9 m/s. The kinematics of the horses were filmed and hoof reaction forces (HRF) were recorded. The carpus was overextended throughout most of the stance. There were 2 periods of overextension, a more rapid period in the beginning of the stance and second directly following the first period. Maximal overextension occurred slightly before the second minimum of the braking horizontal HRF. The metacarpal and antebrachial segments rotated counter-clockwise f...
Degueurce C, Pourcelot P, Audigié F, Denoix JM, Geiger D.The reproducibility of gait variables for sound horses is essential for the interpretation of their modifications by locomotor disorders. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the variability of the limb joint angle patterns in a population of sound horses while they trotted in the conditions of the routine lameness examination (slow trot, just held by hand, on a track, outdoors). The kinematics of 14 French Saddle horses was recorded using a 3-dimensional (3D) kinematic analysis system. Angle-time diagrams were established in the sagittal plane and their intra- and inter-indivi...
Mokry A, Van de Water E, Politiek HT, van Doorn DA, Pille F, Oosterlinck M.Dynamic load distribution and landing patterns play an important role in equine orthopaedics. The aim of this study was to analyse dynamic load distribution and hoof landing patterns of sound Standardbreds. Twenty-four sound, unshod Standardbreds were walked and trotted over a pressure plate to obtain the peak vertical force (PVF), vertical impulse (VI) and stance time (ST) of both forelimbs. Asymmetry indices between both forelimbs were calculated and the dynamic medio-lateral and toe-heel load distribution of the forelimbs were compared between normal, toed-in and toed-out horses. The hoof l...
Lanata A, Guidi A, Baragli P, Paradiso R, Valenza G, Scilingo EP.This study reports on the implementation of a novel system to detect and reduce movement artifact (MA) contribution in electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings acquired from horses in free movement conditions. The system comprises both integrated textile electrodes for ECG acquisition and one triaxial accelerometer for movement monitoring. Here, ECG and physical activity are continuously acquired from seven horses through the wearable system and a model that integrates cardiovascular and movement information to estimate the MA contribution is implemented. Moreover, in this study we propose a new alg...
Oosterlinck M, Gasthuys F, Back W, Pille F.There is ethical debate on the use of ponies for carousel rides at city fairs, as these animals may develop progressive locomotor asymmetry during their career. To investigate this issue, 21 ponies used for carousel rides were walked and trotted over a pressure plate system. Non-directional symmetry ratios and directional asymmetry indices of forelimb peak vertical force (PVF), vertical impulse (VI), stance time (ST) and hoof contact area (CA) were calculated and compared to reference data. In both the carousel and reference groups, most ponies presented higher loading of the right forelimb at...
Back W, Barneveld A, van Weeren PR, van den Bogert AJ.Gait analysis plays a major role in the clinical evaluation of equine lameness. It is generally accepted that the clinician expresses the grade of lameness as a subjective score. In this study lameness was objectively assessed using a standardized transient lameness model, in which lameness was induced by intra-articular injection of bacterial endotoxin into the radiocarpal joint of ponies. Lameness was scored by an experienced clinician, and locomotion was recorded simultaneously using a CODA-3 apparatus. The obtained kinematic gait parameters correlated well with the clinical lameness score ...
Hernlund E, Egenvall A, Peterson ML, Mahaffey CA, Roepstorff L.Increased knowledge of the influence of stride type on hoof impact accelerations for fore and hind limbs could lead to a more complete picture of hoof-ground interactions in equine athletes. Hoof accelerations were quantified for each hoof of five show jumping horses using two orthogonal single axis ± 250 g accelerometers. Accelerations were recorded when cantering horses jumped fences of varying types (upright and oxer) and heights (90-130 cm) on three different surface conditions. Strides were identified as normal canter strides, take-off strides and landing strides. Descriptive hoof impact...
Summerley HL, Thomason JJ, Bignell WW.A rider modifies the weight distribution and dynamic balance of the horse. But what effect does a rider have on the mechanical behaviour of the hoof during each stance phase? Does riding style have any effect on this behaviour? We attempted to answer these questions using strains recorded from 5 rosette strain gauges glued to the surface of the front hooves of 4 Warmblood horses. Comparisons were made between strains with and without a rider, and when the rider was sitting, rising at a trot, or in a forward seated position. The change in strains from trot to lead or nonlead at a canter, and th...
Pascoe PJ, Black WD, Claxton JM, Sansom RE.The pharmacokinetics of alfentanil were investigated in the horse. Four doses of alfentanil (4, 10, 20 and 40 micrograms/kg) were given to four horses at different times and their locomotor activity monitored. Doses of 20 and 40 micrograms/kg produced a significant increase in locomotor activity. The plasma concentrations of alfentanil were measured in six standing horses and the pharmacokinetics calculated. It was found that the decay curves were best described by a biexponential equation. The elimination half-life (t1/2 beta) was 21.65 +/- 3.99 min and the clearance (Cl) was 14.1 +/- 0.7 ml/...
Cherry RL, Adair HS, Chen T, Hendrix DVH, Ward DA.Spontaneous eyeblink rate (SEBR) is inversely proportional to the level of attentional focus in humans. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of attentional focus on SEBR in horses. Methods: Twenty client-owned horses (2.5-23 years of age, five mares, 15 geldings) were evaluated. A GoPro HERO5 Session™ video recorder was attached to the halter and directed toward the eyes. Horses were acclimated for two hours before study commencement. Horses were filmed in five scenarios requiring different levels of attention: alone in a stall ("stall"), stall with an observer ("person")...
Takahashi Y, Takahashi T, Mukai K, Ebisuda Y, Ohmura H.Given that Thoroughbred horses' canter is an asymmetric gait, not only speed but also leading or trailing limbs could affect muscle activities. However, the muscle activity during a canter remains poorly understood. Hence, we aimed to investigate speed and lead-side (leading or trailing) effects on surface electromyography (sEMG) during a canter. The sEMG data were recorded from left Musculus brachiocephalicus (Br), M. infraspinatus (Inf), long head of M. triceps brachii (TB), M. gluteus medius (GM), M. semitendinosus (ST), and M. flexor digitorum longus of seven Thoroughbreds with hoof-strain...
Becker AC, Stock KF, Distl O.Detailed movement evaluations of warmblood foals and mares were performed in connection with regular breeding events of the Oldenburg horse breeding societies in 2009 and 2010. Unfavourable movement characteristics considered indicative for impaired balance were noted by a special judge (SJ) and the regular judges of the breeding events (RJ) and served as the basis for definition of new movement traits. Detailed movement information on 3374 foals and 2844 mares showed that more severe findings like irregular motion pattern in hind legs or irregularity in general motion pattern occurred only sp...
Burn JF, Wilson A, Nason GP.Impact is implicated in the development of several types of musculoskeletal injury in the horse. Characterisation of impact experienced during strenuous exercise is an important first step towards understanding the mechanism for injury. Measurement and analysis of large, short duration impacts is difficult. The measurement system must be able to record transient peaks and high frequencies accurately. The analysis technique must be able to characterise the impact signal in time and frequency. This paper presents a measurement system and analysis technique for the characterisation of large impac...
Crawford WH, Leach DH.A survey of a western Canadian racetrack determined the superelevation and transition curves to be less than the cited design standards. High-speed cinematography was used to film seven Standardbred pacers as they proceeded around one curve of the track at racing speed and for each horse 19 temporal stride parameters were obtained from these films using a film analyzer system. Average velocities were calculated and the mean stride length was found to vary from 5.08 m to 5.77 m. In all frames analyzed the hind foot was observed to contact the track surface prior to the ipsilateral forefoot and ...
Logan AA, Snyder AJ, Nielsen BD.The effects of gait and diameter have been studied independently, but rarely together in equine circular exercise studies. This study aimed to determine the impact of diameter (10-m or 15-m) at various gaits (walk, trot, and canter) on stride frequency or forelimb stance duration. Nine mature horses were outfitted with Tekscan™ Hoof Sensors on their forelimbs during circular and straight-line exercise at various gaits on a clay and sand arena surface. Statistical analysis was performed in SAS 9.4 with fixed effects of exercise type, recording, leg, and breed (PROC GLIMMIX, p < 0.05 significa...
Vickroy TW, Chang SK, Chou CC.The goals of this study were to elucidate the temporal and quantitative relationships between caffeine and its major bioactive metabolites in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and to characterize the pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationship for caffeine-induced changes in spontaneous locomotor activity in the horse. We hypothesized that caffeine and its metabolites distribute efficiently into the CSF to antagonize adenosine A1 and A2a receptors and that spontaneous locomotor activity correlates well with caffeine and/or metabolite concentrations in CSF and blood. A microdialysis system w...
Cock G, Blakeney Z, Hernandez JA, DeNotta S.Atlantoaxial (AA) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collection in standing horses utilizes the controlled narcotic morphine, thereby limiting feasibility in field practice settings. Objective: To compare AA CSF collection time and reaction scores in horses sedated with morphine-containing and opioid-free sedation protocols: detomidine + morphine (DM), detomidine + xylazine (DX), detomidine + detomidine (DD), detomidine alone (D0); To develop a novel method for assessing sedation in standing horses using open-source motion-tracking software. Methods: Six healthy adult horses. Methods: Randomi...
Pratt GW, O'Connor JT.A biomechanical model of running has been presented. A basic premise has been that the swing time is nearly independent of speed. In fact, both the racehorse and the trotter have nearly equal swing times. Consequently, as speed increases and the stance phase becomes shorter, the horse must compensate by increasing his extension or the length of the airborne phase (or both). The safe speed which allows the horse adequate preparation time for contact of a leg with the ground is calculated, using a stride-by-stride analysis of the motion of the horse. This is seen to be a very sensitive function ...
Barr AR, Wotton SF, Dow SM, Waterman AE, Goodship AE, Duance VC.The effects of osteochondral defect location and post-operative walking exercise on structural repair and recovery of joint function were examined in the midcarpal joints of ponies. Functional recovery was monitored by measuring ground reaction forces using a force plate. Structural repair was evaluated histologically and by measuring the total collagen and uronic acid content and relative proportions of Type I and II collagen in the repair tissue. Central defects tended to cause a more marked functional disturbance but were repaired with fibrocartilage rather than fibrous tissue in 3 out of 6...
Draper AC, Trumble TN, Firshman AM, Baird JD, Reed S, Mayhew IG, MacKay R, Valberg SJ.To investigate and further characterise posture and movement characteristics during forward and backward walking in horses with shivering and acquired, bilateral stringhalt. Objective: To characterise the movement of horses with shivering (also known as shivers) in comparison with control horses and horses with acquired bilateral stringhalt. Methods: Qualitative video analysis of gait in horses. Methods: Owners' and authors' videos of horses with shivering or stringhalt and control horses walking forwards and backwards and manually lifting their limbs were examined subjectively to characterise...
Back W, Smit LD, Schamhardt HC, Barneveld A.To study the influence of different exercise regimens on the development of locomotion, 40 Warmblood foals aged 1 week were subdivided into 3 groups: box-rest, training and pasture exercise. The box-rest group remained for 24 h a day in a box stall while the training group was housed similarly, but additionally received a 30 min workout with gallop sprints 6 times a week. The pasture group served as a control group and was kept at pasture for 24 h a day. After 5 months, the locomotion pattern at the trot of every foal was recorded overground with a 2-D MacReflex gait analysis system. A randoml...
Burn JF, Portus B, Brockington C.The equine carpus has a well-defined limit to joint extension at approximately 180 degrees . During locomotion however, the carpus hyperextends during stance phase. Hyperextension is resisted by the carpal bones and ligaments, and it has been proposed that large increased hyperextension might relate to potentially damaging stress levels in the carpus. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between peak hyperextension of the carpus (PCE) and speed during locomotion on the level and on an incline. Five Thoroughbred horses were exercised on a treadmill at speeds between 1.8 and...
Greene EW, Woods WE, Tobin T.Caffeine (4 mg/kg) was given by rapid IV injection to 4 horses. Plasma concentrations of the drug peaked at 10 micrograms/ml and decreased rapidly at first, and then more slowly, with an apparent beta-phase half-life of 18.2 hours. Urinary concentrations of caffeine were remarkably consistent at about 3 times plasma values of the drug. Caffeine was detectable in both plasma and urine of the horses for up to 9 days after dosing. After oral administration, caffeine was absorbed poorly with an apparent bioavailability of 39%. Although blood concentrations of caffeine peaked rapidly after oral adm...
Sätter JK, McGawley K, Connysson M, Staunton CA.To identify how riding rein direction (left and right) and rider asymmetry affect tölt performance in Icelandic horses. Two horses were ridden in tölt by four riders on both left and right reins. Riders wore pressure insoles that measured the total absolute force (FAbs) and absolute force difference (FDiff) in their left and right feet in the stirrups. A 3D motion-analysis system recorded the degrees of side-to-side movement in the pelvis (RollP) and in the thoracolumbar region (RollT). Lateral advanced placement (LAP) and duty factor (DF) were calculated to determine tölt performance. One-...
Miró F, Santos R, Garrido-Castro JL, Galisteo AM, Medina-Carnicer R.The handled trot of three Lusitano Purebred stallions was analyzed by using 2D and 3D kinematical analysis methods. Using the same capture and analysis system, 2D and 3D data of some linear (stride length, maximal height of the hoof trajectories) and angular (angular range of motion, inclination of bone segments) variables were obtained. A paired Student T-test was performed in order to detect statistically significant differences between data resulting from the two methodologies With respect to the angular variables, there were significant differences in scapula inclination, shoulder angle, c...
Behnke R.Hoof-ground interaction impacts on the health and performance characteristics of horses. Due to complex interactions between hoof and ground during the stance phase, previous experimentally dominated studies concentrated on subproblems of the phenomena observed. A multidisciplinary methodology with mathematical modelling, material testing and in vivo experimental measurements seems promising. Objective: With the help of a mathematical approach, this contribution aims to explain from a biomechanical point of view the phenomena observed during experimental investigations (hoof acceleration, inte...
Keg PR, Schamhardt HC, van Weeren PR, Barneveld A.The practice of applying diagnostic nerve blocks relies on the assumption that the blocks in themselves do not alter the horse's gait. This assumption has recently been challenged. In the present paper a series of sequential nerve blocks (low palmar digital block, abaxial sesamoid block, high palmar block) was applied to clinically sound horses. Before and after each block the gait was clinically scored and Ground Reaction Forces (GRF) were measured. Clinical scoring did not change after any of the nerve blocks. None of the GRF variables changed significantly except for a slight alteration of ...
López-Sanromán FJ, Freilich GM, Gomez-Cisneros D, Varela M, Santiago I, Manso-Díaz G.The objective of the present study was to compare, using accelerometry, the gait changes produced after administration of a dose of 0.2 mg/kg of morphine at the walk in healthy horses. Six mature horses were used, and all animals received two different treatments with, at least, two weeks interval in between. Treatments administered consisted of a single dose of 10 ml of saline solution or a total of 0.2 mg/kg of morphine diluted in 10 ml of saline solution. A three-dimensional accelerometric device was used to collect data continuously while horses were walking. The walking test was performed...
Schroter RC, Baylis E, Marlin DJ.Heart rate and gait characteristics (stride length and frequency) were studied in 6 horses subjected to a standardised incremental exercise test, involving moving at the trot and increasing speeds up to a fast gallop and subsequently during the steeplechase phase of a 3-day-event. The studies were performed in hot conditions. Appropriate scaling, based on hindleg length (hh), stride length (L), stride frequency (f) and speed (Sp) for nondimensional stride length (lambda = (L/hh), nondimensional stride frequency (phi = f(hh/g)1/2) and nondimensional velocity (û = Sp/(ghh)1/2), where g is the g...
Wilson BD, Neal RJ, Howard A, Groenedyk S.Standardbred pacers were studied at four different nominated speeds and selected gait kinematics were analysed to determine factors which contribute to pacing speed. A deterministic model is proposed in which pacing speed is a function of stride length and stride timing variables. Stance length and suspension time remained relatively constant over the different pacing speeds. Variables which discriminated best between pacing speeds were suspension length and overlap time. At near maximal speed, the pacers increased speeds with increased stride length. This was attributed to an increased suspen...
Igwe OJ, Blake JW.The disposition kinetics of pemoline after iv and oral administration of 2.4 mg/kg of the drug were studied. The elimination half-life was 39.4 hr. The mean volume of distribution was 1.5 liters/kg indicating extensive tissue distribution and sequestration for an amphoteric drug. Plasma protein binding determined by in vitro equilibrium dialysis was concentration dependent. The mean binding capacity was found to be 0.80 mu-mol/g, an apparent dissociation constant of 3.73 X 10(-5) molar, and a total plasma protein concentration of 64.7 g/liter. The mean systemic availability by oral administrat...
Les CM, Stover SM, Keyak JH, Taylor KT, Willits NH.The distribution of material properties within the equine third metacarpal bone (MC3), and its possible effect on the mechanics of the structure, was quantitatively evaluated using single-load-to-failure compressive materials testing of specimens from ten horses. Bone samples from six regions within five proximodistal levels of MC3 were milled into right cylinders and compressed at a strain rate of 0.01 s-1. Diaphyseal MC3 bone material was stiffer, stronger, deformed less to yield and failure, and absorbed more energy to yield, than metaphyseal cortical bone material. Lateral and medial MC3 c...
