Showjumping is an equestrian discipline where horse and rider pairs navigate a course of obstacles, including fences, walls, and water jumps, within a set time. The sport tests the agility, speed, and precision of horses, as well as the skill and coordination of the rider. Horses used in showjumping are often selected for their athletic ability, temperament, and conformation, which contribute to their performance. Training and conditioning play a significant role in preparing horses for competition, focusing on strength, agility, and technique. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the biomechanics, training methodologies, and performance factors associated with showjumping horses.
Kristiansen KK, Kold SE.There is limited knowledge available of factors influencing response to treatments of the DIP-joint in horses with lameness responding to diagnostic analgesia of the DIP-joint. For this reason a multivariable statistical analysis was performed. Objective: Horses with lameness reduced by > or = 75% 10 min after intra-articular analgesia of the DIP-joint, can be treated successfully by intra-articular medication of the joint. Multiple factors influence the response to treatment. Methods: The study was performed retrospectively based on clinical records of horses treated with either polysulpha...
Stock KF, Distl O.To determine whether selection schemes accounting for orthopedic health traits were compatible with breeding progress in performance parameters in Hanoverian Warmblood horses. Methods: 5,928 horses. Methods: Relative breeding values (RBVs) were predicted for osseous fragments in fetlock (metacarpo- and metatarsophalangeal) and tarsal joints, deforming arthropathy in tarsal joints, and pathologic changes in distal sesamoid bones. Selection schemes were developed on the basis of total indices for radiographic findings (TIR), dressage (TID), and jumping (TIJ). Response to selection was traced ove...
Powers P.Sagittal plane SVHS video recordings (50 Hz) were made of horses jumping the wall at an international Puissance competition. Video sequences were manually digitized and six kinematic variables at take-off were analyzed. Nine horses started the competition with the fence height at 1.80 m, and two horses attempted the fence in the fifth and final round with the fence height at 2.27 m. For successful performances, fence height was correlated with the following take-off variables: vertical velocity of the centre of mass (r = 0.45, p = 0.03); height of centre of mass (r = 0.44, p = 0.04); distance ...
Bobbert MF, Santamaría S, van Weeren PR, Back W, Barneveld A.The purpose of this study was to quantify performance characteristics of good jumping horses, and to determine whether these were already detectable at foal age. Kinematic data were collected of horses performing free jumps over a 0.60 m high fence at six months of age and of these same horses jumping with a rider over a 1.15 m high fence at five years of age. At five years of age the horses were divided into three groups on the basis of a puissance competition: a group of seven best jumpers that made no errors and in the end cleared a 1.50 m high fence, a group of nine worst jumpers that were...
Hoegaerts M, Pille F, De Clercq T, Fulton IC, Saunders JH.A 10-year-old show jumper was evaluated for an acute severe lameness (grade 4 of 5) of the right foreleg. During weight bearing, the toe of the affected limb rotated dorsally suggesting rupture of the deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT). Upon radiographic examination of the hoof, a severe erosion at the flexor surface and a parasagittal fracture of the distal sesamoid bone were found. Ultrasonographic examination confirmed rupture of the DDFT. These findings were confirmed on post-mortem examination. Prior to the acute lameness, the horse was treated with corticosteroid injections into the podot...
O'Brien E, Stevens KB, Pfeiffer DU, Hall J, Marr CM.The aims of this study were to estimate the wastage of horses registered for eventing in Britain, to investigate the reasons for this wastage and to evaluate factors affecting the horses' achievement of grade I status (at least 61 points) while registered. An analysis of the database of the British Eventing register found that 33.7 per cent of horses registered for the first time in 1999 were not re-registered for eventing in subsequent years. By using multivariable logistic regression analysis, it was shown that horses that were kept at an event yard were more likely to be re-registered than ...
Santamaría S, Bobbert MF, Back W, Barneveld A, van Weeren PR.To investigate the effects of early training for jumping by comparing the jumping technique of horses that had received early training with that of horses raised conventionally. Methods: 40 Dutch Warmblood horses. Methods: The horses were analyzed kinematically during free jumping at 6 months of age. Subsequently, they were allocated into a control group that was raised conventionally and an experimental group that received 30 months of early training starting at 6 months of age. At 4 years of age, after a period of rest in pasture and a short period of training with a rider, both groups were ...
Cassiat G, Pourcelot P, Tavernier L, Geiger D, Denoix JM, Degueurce D.The costs and investments required for the purchase and training of showjumpers justify the need to find selection means for jumping horses. Use of objective kinematic criteria correlated to jumping ability could be helpful for this assessment. Objective: To compare back kinematics between 2 groups of horses of different competition levels (Group 1, competing at high level; Group 2 competing at low level) while free jumping over a 1 m vertical fence. Methods: Three-dimensional recordings were performed using 2 panning cameras. Kinematic parameters of the withers and tuber sacrale (vertical dis...
Bobbert MF, Santamaría S.The purpose of the present study was to gain more insight into the contribution of the forelimbs and hindlimbs of the horse to energy changes during the push-off for a jump. For this purpose, we collected kinematic data at 240 Hz from 23 5-year-old Warmbloods (average mass: 595 kg) performing free jumps over a 1.15 m high fence. From these data, we calculated the changes in mechanical energy and the changes in limb length and joint angles. The force carried by the forelimbs and the amount of energy stored was estimated from the distance between elbow and hoof, assuming that this part of the le...
Johnston C, Holm KR, Erichsen C, Eksell P, Drevemo S.Clinical history and examination are important features in diagnosis of equine back dysfunction. However, interpretation is subjective and therefore may vary substantially. Objective: To establish a clinical tool to objectively evaluate the function of the equine back, in the form of a database on the kinematics of the back at the walk and trot in fully functioning riding horses. Methods: Thirty-three fully functioning riding horses walked and trotted on a treadmill. Morphometrics and kinematics were tested for correlations to age, height, weight and stride length, and differences between gend...
Murray RC, Dyson SJ, Weekes JS, Branch MV, Hladick S.Bone-phase scintigraphy is sensitive to the dynamic process of bone modeling and remodeling, which may be adaptive or pathologic. Our knowledge of normal patterns of radiopharmaceutical uptake (RU) is limited, making interpretation of images problematic. It is therefore important to characterize normal patterns of RU at specific sites and relate these to age and exercise, to ensure valid interpretation of images in clinical cases with subtle lesions. This study aimed to characterize patterns of uptake of radiopharmaceutical in the distal tarsal region in clinically normal horses, and to invest...
Landman MA, de Blaauw JA, van Weeren PR, Hofland LJ.A population of 805 horses (70 per cent dressage, 20 per cent show jumpers and 10 per cent trotters) with orthopaedic problems was examined for signs of lameness and back problems, irrespective of their original complaints. In the horses with a back problem the prevalence of lameness was 74 per cent, and back problems were diagnosed in 32 per cent of the lame horses. These percentages were significantly higher than those recorded in a control population of 399 horses, of which 20 per cent were lame and 12 per cent had back problems. In the group of horses with orthopaedic problems there was a ...
Santamaría S, Bobbert ME, Back W, Barneveld A, van Weeren PR.To quantify variation in the jumping technique within and among young horses with little jumping experience, establish relationships between kinetic and kinematic variables, and identify a limited set of variables characteristic for detecting differences in jumping performance among horses. Methods: Fifteen 4-year-old Dutch Warmblood horses. Methods: The horses were raised under standardized conditions and trained in accordance with a fixed protocol for a short period. Subsequently, horses were analyzed kinematically during free jumping over a fence with a height of 1.05 m. Results: Within-hor...
Santamaría S, Bobbert ME, Back W, Barneveld A, van Weeren PR.To determine whether differences in jumping technique among horses are consistent at various ages. Methods: 12 Dutch Warmblood horses. Methods: Kinematics were recorded during free jumps of horses when they were 6 months old (ie, no jumping experience) and 4 years old (ie, the horses had started their training period to become show jumpers). Mean +/- SD height of the horses was 1.40 +/- 0.04 m at 6 months of age and 1.70 +/- 0.05 m at 4 years of age. Results: Strong correlations were found between values from 6-month-old foals and 4-year-old horses for variables such as peak vertical accelerat...
Dyson SJ.There is a lack of long-term follow-up data for outcome of medical treatment of superficial digital flexor (SDF) tendonitis. Objective: To determine whether intralesional injection of hyaluronan, beta aminoproprionitrile fumarate (BAPN) or polysulphated glycosaminoglycans (PSGAG) or systemic administration of PSGAG yielded better results than a controlled exercise programme alone in the management of SDF tendonitis, with a minimum follow-up period of 2 years after resumption of full work; and to determine whether reinjury rate was related to sports discipline and whether fibre alignment score ...
Proudman C, Pinchbeck G, Clegg P, French N.As in other competitive sports, the famous Grand National steeplechase, which is held at Aintree in the United Kingdom and is watched by 600 million people worldwide, sometimes results in injury. By analysing data from the past 15 Grand National races (consisting of 560 starts by horses), we are able to identify several factors that are significantly associated with failure to complete the race: no previous experience of the course and its unique obstacles, unfavourable ground conditions (too soft or too hard), a large number of runners, and the length of the odds ('starting price'). We also f...
Blazyczek I, Hamann H, Deegen E, Distl O, Ohnesorge B.Between 1994 and 2001, guttural pouch tympany was diagnosed in 51 foals; there were approximately three times as many fillies as colts, of Arabian, different German warmblood breeds and Western horse breeds. There were significantly more Arabian and paint horse foals than expected in comparison with the breed distribution of the foals hospitalised at the Clinic for Horses. The foals' breed and sex did not influence the age of onset, the type and severity of the clinical signs or the recurrence rate. A surgical laser technique was used on 50 of the foals; in 35 cases only one surgical treatment...
Powers P, Harrison A.This study examined the effects of the rider on the linear projectile kinematics of show-jumping horses. SVHS video recordings (50 Hz) of eight horses jumping a vertical fence 1 m high were used for the study. Horses jumped the fence under two conditions: loose (no rider or tack) and ridden. Recordings were digitised using Peak Motus. After digitising the sequences, each rider's digitised data were removed from the ridden horse data so that three conditions were examined: loose, ridden (including the rider's data) and riderless (rider's data removed). Repeated measures ANOVA revealed significa...
Gerber V, Robinson NE, Luethi S, Marti E, Wampfler B, Straub R.Horses housed in conventional stable environments are exposed to high dust loads. Long-term exposure to inhaled dust may lead to subclinical airway disease. Objective: Airway inflammation and mucus accumulation are 1) common in asymptomatic well-performing sport horses, 2) increased in older compared to younger individuals and 3) correlated. Methods: Mucus quantity and quality (endoscopic scoring) and BALF differential cytology were assessed in 13 younger horses (mean age 5 years) and 13 older horses (mean age 15 years), which had no historical or clinical evidence of lower airway disease, wer...
Dyson S, Murray R.There has been no large study of horses with suspected sacroiliac (SI) joint region pain in which the clinical diagnosis has been supported by either abnormal radiopharmaceutical activity in the SI joint region or by periarticular infiltration of local anaesthetic solution. Objective: To describe the clinical features of horses with SI joint region pain, to document the age, breed, sex, discipline, size and conformation of affected horses and to compare these with the author's (SD) normal case population and to document the results of infiltration of local anaesthetic solution around the SI jo...
Herholz C, Straub R, Braendlin C, Imhof A, Lüthi S, Busato A.Tidal breathing flow-volume loop (TBFVL) indices in healthy horses and in horses suffering from mild and moderate to severe recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) were measured. In addition, the ability of these indices to differentiate healthy controls from horses with mild RAO by separating the horses according to their usage was investigated. The horses were assigned to three sporting categories: 1 Leisure horses; 2 Horses competing at events with a duration of more than five minutes (eventing, coaching and endurance); and 3 Horses competing at events with a duration of less than five minutes (...
Singer ER, Saxby F, French NP.Serious injuries to horses and riders in horse trials (HT) and three-day events (3DE) are usually associated with falls of horses, which invariably involve falls of the riders. Many potential causes for these falls have been discussed. Objective: The aim of this case-control study was to investigate the risk factors for horse falls on the cross-country phase of horse trials and three-day events. Methods: Using retrospective data, significant risk factors identified with unvariable analysis (P value <0.2) were entered into a multivariable logistic regression model. Significant risk factors (...
Santamaría S, Back W, van Weeren PR, Knaap J, Barneveld A.The selection of foals as future showjumpers remains a subjective process based on qualitative parameters; and hence, frequently suffers from disparity in the criteria used by experts in the field. A detailed biomechanical description of foals while jumping would be most helpful in providing a better basis for the accurate assessment of their future athletic ability. The Qualisys Pro Reflex system was used to capture 3-dimensional kinematics of 41 Dutch Warmblood foals age 6 months free jumping a vertical fence, preceded by a cross pole fence. The left lead was the most preferred lead for both...
Dyson SJ.It was hypothesised that in solar bone images of the front feet of clinically normal horses, or horses with lameness unrelated to the front feet, there would be less than a 10% difference in the ratio of uptake of radiopharmaceutical in either the region of the navicular bone, or the region of insertion of the deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT), compared to the peripheral regions of the distal phalanx. Nuclear scintigraphic examination of the front feet of 15 Grand Prix show jumping horses, all of which were free from detectable lameness, was performed using dorsal, lateral and solar images. Th...
Meershoek LS, Schamhardt HC, Roepstorff L, Johnston C.Lameness in athletic horses is often caused by forelimb tendon injuries, especially in the interosseus tendon (TI) and superficial digital flexor tendon (SDF), but also in the accessory ligament (AL) of the deep digital flexor tendon (DDF). In an attempt to explain the aetiology of these injuries, the present study investigated the loading of the tendons during landing after a jump. In jumping horses, the highest forces can be expected in the trailing limb during landing. Therefore, landing kinematics and ground reaction forces of the trailing forelimb were measured from 6 horses jumping singl...
Meershoek LS, Roepstorff L, Schamhardt HC, Johnston C, Bobbert MF.Tendon injuries are an important problem in athletic horses and are probably caused by excessive loading of the tendons during demanding activities. As a first step towards understanding these injuries, the tendon loading was quantified during jump landings. Kinematics and ground reaction forces were collected from the leading and trailing forelimbs of 6 experienced jumping horses. Joint moments were calculated using inverse dynamic analysis. It was found that the variation of movement and loading patterns was small, both within and between horses. The peak flexor joint moments in the coffin a...
Murphy J.Showjumping riders regularly employ various schooling strategies to control the horse's jump stride kinematics (JSK). Strategies include plyometric training regimes with fences of different heights and widths set at specific distances. Gymnastic grids teach the horse to jump cleanly. Rapping, once used almost routinely, is no longer in vogue. However, the use of performance enhancing (PE) boots on the distal hind limbs to alter equine JSK has become popular. There are two broad categories of PE boots: weighted and pressure. Some riders use so-called weighted boots on the horses' hind limbs dur...
Symons J.Pressure boots are applied to hind limbs of showjumping horses with the intent to enhance jumping form. Manufacturers claim acupressure points enhance proprioception of hind limbs. With this increased awareness, horses are expected to retract their hind limbs to clear jump rails. This research aimed to investigate a more direct, mechanical effect of pressure boots on hind limb biomechanics. Cadaveric hind limbs ( = 6) were mechanically loaded in axial compression (3 cycles at 0.25 Hz, displacement control ~3300 N) with (2 trials) and without (2 trials) a pressure boot applied. During mechanica...
Jönsson L, Madsen P, Mark T.Genetic evaluations of sport performance typically consider competition records of ranking points in each competition, accumulated lifetime points or annual earnings. Repeated observations have the advantage of allowing for adjustment of effects associated with each competition such as rider experience, judge and competing horses, but also demands more computer capacity than single-trait records, which could prohibit multiple-trait evaluations. The aim of the study was to compare CPU times, estimated breeding values (EBVs), reliabilities and model prediction abilities when modelling repeated c...
Spaas J, Helsen WF, Adriaenssens M, Broeckx S, Duchateau L, Spaas JH.There is general agreement that horses have dichromatic colour vision with similar capabilities to human beings with red-green colour deficiencies. However, whether colour perception has an impact on equine jumping performance and how pronounced the colour stimulus might be for a horse is unknown. The present study investigated the relationship between the colour of the fences (blue or green) and the show jumping performance of 20 horses ridden by two riders using an indoor and outdoor set of green and blue fences. In the indoor arena, significantly more touches and faults were made on blue fe...
Proudman C, Pinchbeck G, Clegg P, French N.As in other competitive sports, the famous Grand National steeplechase, which is held at Aintree in the United Kingdom and is watched by 600 million people worldwide, sometimes results in injury. By analysing data from the past 15 Grand National races (consisting of 560 starts by horses), we are able to identify several factors that are significantly associated with failure to complete the race: no previous experience of the course and its unique obstacles, unfavourable ground conditions (too soft or too hard), a large number of runners, and the length of the odds ('starting price'). We also f...
Sánchez-Guerrero MJ, Ripollés-Lobo M, Bartolomé E, Perdomo-González DI, Valera M.The Arabian horse is a generally reliable sport horse, and continues to be a remarkable endurance horse, so the relevance of the expected value of the proportion of Arabian genes (EV%AG) in horses participating in eventing could be a relevant factor. A total of 1089 horses participating in eventing (8866 records) were used. A GLM revealed that the EV%AG was significant in dressage, show jumping and cross-country. A BLUP genetic evaluation was computed with five genetic models (without the EV%AG (0) using as a covariate (A), as a fixed effect (B), with variance heterogeneity, and in genetic gro...
Danek J, Flosadóttir S.The purpose of this work was to assess the impact of a specific equestrian training, conducted in winter weather conditions, on the thermovision temperature distribution of a rider's body surface. The study included a riding pair with 12 years of experience (female rider, aged 25, sports active and 16-year-old horse, Trakehner breed). Methods: The study included the temperature distribution of selected parts of the rider's body (the area of the right and left shoulder blade, chest and lumbar section, and the region of the left and right cross) was carried out before and after recreational, jum...
Sanigavatee K, Poochipakorn C, Charoenchanikran P, Joongpan W, Chanda M.Z-bar shoeing has been implemented to relieve uniaxial palmar pain arising from the structures in the affected region. However, there have been no reports on the long-term application of the z-bar shoe during exercise training regimens. A 10-year-old mixed-breed show jumping pony presented with an occasional short stride and abnormal rhythm while turning during routine exercise for three months. Gait analysis conducted by trotting off on both hard and soft surfaces showed no lameness in the straight line on both types of surfaces. However, right forelimb lameness was detected with moderate and...
Johnson S, Symons J.Equine athletes can incur musculoskeletal injuries due to repetitive loading during training and competition. Prior to signs of lameness, horse trainers and veterinarians may observe swelling in the distal limbs, where injuries most frequently occur. Early observations may guide modulation of training to manage physiological stress and mitigate risk of injury. However, these observations of changing limb volume can be subjective and imprecise. The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy and applicability of a tablet-mounted, 3D scanner to measure and record distal limb volumes of horses b...
Elmeua González M, Šarabon N.How the modification of saddle fitting parameters in horse riding affects rider's kinetics is very uncertain. The aim of this study is to describe how manipulating the two main adjustments that an end-user is likely to perform (saddle tilt and stirrup length) affects the biomechanics of a horse rider on a living horse. Eleven showjumpers volunteered to take part in this study. Each participant performed a 120-strides standardization trial at trot and canter, with 0° saddle tilt and stirrup length that would position the rider's knee at 90°. Following the standardization trial, four intervent...
Lewczuk D.The aim of the present study was to verify the influence of distance between obstacles in combination for free jumping test on linear and temporal kinematic parameters of the jump. Investigated groups of halfbred stallions being prepared for 100 days performance test (two groups, 36 horses in total) were filmed on different distances between main doublebarre obstacle and last cross-pole in the jumping lane. Both groups of horses were filmed during their regular work in the same training centre 1 week before performance test. Jumping parameters were obtained on the same size of the obstacle. Da...
Buzzetti AP, Nothaft IT, Paganela JC, Franzan BC, Braga GI, Barreira APB, de Lima LR, de Almeida FQ.This study aimed to perform ultrasonographic evaluation of the digital flexor tendons of jumping horses undergoing complementary training on a treadmill. Fifteen Brazilian Sport horses were divided into two groups: Group I with 7 animals in physical training complementary to the standard training at the Brazilian Army's Riding School; and Group II with 8 animals in standard training used in the Brazilian Army's Riding School. Complementary training was performed on a treadmill on an inclined plane. Ultrasonographic images were taken at the beginning and at the end of training. The left thoraci...
Lewczuk D, Metera-Zarzycka E.Many horse breeds in the world are reserved as genetic resources; however, their characteristics seem to be insufficiently clarified, especially in terms of horse performance. Two jumping ability evaluation methods have been used to compare different types of performance breeds and on this basis their applicability for precision phenotyping has been determined. Methods: Jumping data of 186 young Polish Warmblood stallions (27 with an endangered status) bred for sport and multipurpose use was collected during their performance tests organised under identical environmental conditions following t...
Assenza A, Marafioti S, Congiu F, Giannetto C, Fazio F, Bruschetta D, Piccione G.The effect of two jumping competitions, performed in two consecutive weekends, on serum creatine phosphokinase (CPK), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), urea, creatinine (CREA) concentrations were evaluated in 12 healthy jumper horses. Methods: Blood sampling was performed before the 1(st) day of competition (T0), at the end of each show (J1, J2), on the day after the competition (T1); the same sampling plan was followed during the second weekend (J3, J4 and T2). Results: One-way repeated measures analysis of variance showed an increase in CPK at J1 and J2 respe...
Stock KF, Distl O.To determine whether selection schemes accounting for orthopedic health traits were compatible with breeding progress in performance parameters in Hanoverian Warmblood horses. Methods: 5,928 horses. Methods: Relative breeding values (RBVs) were predicted for osseous fragments in fetlock (metacarpo- and metatarsophalangeal) and tarsal joints, deforming arthropathy in tarsal joints, and pathologic changes in distal sesamoid bones. Selection schemes were developed on the basis of total indices for radiographic findings (TIR), dressage (TID), and jumping (TIJ). Response to selection was traced ove...
Marlin DJ, Harris PA, Schroter RC, Harris RC, Roberts CA, Scott CM, Orme CE, Dunnett M, Dyson SJ, Barrelet F.The present study was undertaken to investigate physiological, metabolic, haematological and biochemical changes in horses competing in the Speed and Endurance test of a Concours Complet International (CCI)*****3-day-event held under FEI rules. A total of 28 horses competing in the Burghley Horse Trials Speed and Endurance test were selected to be monitored: 11 horses in 1993 and 17 horses in 1994. Of the 28 horses selected, 17 completed the Speed and Endurance test and went on to complete the showjumping test. Mean +/- s.d. shade temperature and relative humidity, black globe temperature and ...
Próchniak T, Kasperek K, Knaga S, Rozempolska-Rucińska I, Batkowska J, Drabik K, Ziȩba G.The aim of the study was to characterize the population structure and assess the genetic diversity of warmblood horses used in the show jumping discipline. Pedigree data of 1,048 horses participating in the Polish Championships for Young Horses were analyzed. The pedigree of these animals included 12 863 individuals. The study consisted in analysis of the pedigree structure of the horses and characterization of the homozygosity and genetic diversity in the population. It was found that pedigree completeness and depth were sufficient for reliable assessment of the genetic diversity in the analy...
Andres SA, Bushau-Sprinkle AM, Brier ME, Seger YR.To investigate the risk reduction and benefit of wearing body protection/safety vests in equestrian sports. Methods: A comparison of equestrians wearing body protective vests and those not wearing vests was performed using incident report data of 718 participants in the United States Pony Clubs during 2011-2017. Data obtained included age, gender, certification level of member, type of activity, description of incident, description of injuries, what protective equipment was worn and other possible contributing factors. Results: While wearing body protective vests when riding on the flat or for...
Ničová K, Bartošová J.This study aimed to identify factors that can influence show-jumping performance during top level competitions in the Western European League (2017/2018, CSI5*). The performance data of 144 riders and 222 horses were obtained from video records (FEI TV/ website). Riders with horses achieved a total of 9114 jumping-efforts over 320 obstacles including oxers (n = 142), oxers with water (n = 15), triple bars (n = 6), verticals (n = 136), verticals with water (n = 14) and walls (n = 7). Obstacles in the first round (FR) or in jump off (JO) were standing either as single (n = 6290) or as a combinat...
Egenvall A, Tranquille CA, Lönnell AC, Bitschnau C, Oomen A, Hernlund E, Montavon S, Franko MA, Murray RC, Weishaupt MA, Weeren vR, Roepstorff L.Orthopaedic, or other, injuries in sports medicine can be quantified using the 'days-lost to training' concept. Both the training regimen and the surface used in training and racing can affect the health of racehorses. Our aim was to associate 'days-lost to training' in elite-level show-jumpers to horse characteristics, training and management strategies, and the time spent working on various training and competition surfaces. We designed a longitudinal study of professional riders in four European countries. Data were recorded using training diaries. Reasons for days-lost were classified into...
Patterson M, Doyle J, Cahill E, Caulfield B, McCarthy Persson U.Horse rider ability has long been measured using horse performance, competition results and visual observation. Scientific methods of measuring rider ability on the flat are emerging such as measuring position angles and harmony of the horse-rider system. To date no research has quantified rider ability in show jumping. Kinematic analysis and motion sensors have been used in sports other than show jumping to measure the quality of motor control patterns in humans. The aim of this study was to quantify rider ability in show jumping using body-mounted IMUs. Preliminary results indicate that ther...
Stewart ID, White IM, Gilmour AR, Thompson R, Woolliams JA, Brotherstone S.Eventing competitions in Great Britain (GB) comprise three disciplines, each split into four grades, yielding 12 discipline-grade traits. As there is a demand for tools to estimate (co)variance matrices with a large number of traits, the aim of this work was to investigate different methods to produce large (co)variance matrices using GB eventing data. Data from 1999 to 2008 were used and penalty points were converted to normal scores. A sire model was utilised to estimate fixed effects of gender, age and class, and random effects of sire, horse and rider. Three methods were used to estimate (...
Posta J, Komlósi I, Mihók S.The aims of this study were to estimate phenotypic and genetic parameters for a range of traits in Hungarian Sport Horses, and to compare several methods of estimating breeding value (BV) in this breed. The analyses were based on the Hungarian Sport Horse Studbook, results of self-performance tests (SPTs) and show-jumping competition results. An SPT comprises subjective judgement of conformation traits, movement analysis traits and free-jumping performance, assessed via ordinal scores. Genetic parameters of SPTs were estimated with an animal model. Different measurements of the competition per...
Rovere G, Madsen P, Norberg E, van Arendonk JA, Ducro BJ.Recent studies on data from the Dutch Warmblood Studbook (KWPN) have shown that the ongoing specialization of horses for either dressage (DH) or show jumping (JH) has led to a decreasing genetic relationship between the two subpopulations. The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of the specialization process on the genetic parameters of traits measured in the studbook-entry inspection of KWPN during the last fifteen years. Data from 18,125 DH and 23,800 JH recorded from 1998 until 2013 were used to analyse 13 traits scored in both DH and JH. Analyses were performed in a Bayesian framew...
Ehrlich PJ, Seeherman HJ, O'Callaghan MW, Dohoo IR, Brimacombe M.To determine anatomic patterns and clinical importance of increased radiopharmaceutical uptake in bones of horses used for show jumping, hunting, and eventing. Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: 141 horses evaluated because of lameness. Methods: Medical records were reviewed, and information on results of physical examination, radiography, and scintigraphy were obtained. Scintigrams were evaluated to identify areas of increased radio-pharmaceutical uptake. Results: 834 areas of increased radiopharmaceutical uptake were identified. Scintigraphy of the vertebral column was performed in 78 ho...
Schambardt HC, Merkens HW, Vogel V, Willekens C.Using a force plate, ground reaction force (GRF) patterns at take-off and landing between the hooves and the ground were recorded for all limbs of 5 Dutch Warmbloods jumping a 0.8-m vertical fence from the right-leading canter. Distribution of the GRF and force impulses over the 4 limbs at take-off and landing were considerably different from those recorded at the normal canter. At take-off, the propulsory GRF of the hind limbs were 3 to 5 times higher than at the normal canter, depending on the jumping technique of the horse. At landing, the propulsory GRF were mainly increased in the trailin...
Santamaría S, Bobbert ME, Back W, Barneveld A, van Weeren PR.To quantify variation in the jumping technique within and among young horses with little jumping experience, establish relationships between kinetic and kinematic variables, and identify a limited set of variables characteristic for detecting differences in jumping performance among horses. Methods: Fifteen 4-year-old Dutch Warmblood horses. Methods: The horses were raised under standardized conditions and trained in accordance with a fixed protocol for a short period. Subsequently, horses were analyzed kinematically during free jumping over a fence with a height of 1.05 m. Results: Within-hor...
Aguilera-Tejero E, Estepa JC, López I, Bas S, Mayer-Valor R, Rodríguez M.The acid-base status of venous blood was studied in 17 show jumpers before and after exercise using both a traditional and a quantitative approach. Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO(2)), pH, haemoglobin, and plasma concentrations of sodium (Na(+)), chloride (Cl(-)), potasium (K(+)), ionized calcium (Ca(2+)), total proteins, albumin, lactate and phosphorus were measured in jugular venous blood samples obtained before and immediately after finishing a show jumping competition. Bicarbonate, anion gap and globulin concentration were calculated from the measured parameters. 'Quantitative anal...
Hanousek K, Salavati M, Fouladi-Nashta A.To test the hypothesis that gender affects horse scores in eventing competition, data on the scores and points awarded to 681 horses was collected from the British Eventing website. Equal numbers of mares, geldings and stallions were used, all foaled during or after 1994 and aged 4-10 years. The study included five levels of competition (BE90, BE100, Novice, Intermediate and Advanced) and investigated differences in mean phased scores, total scores and rank in competition. Additionally, the mean and median 'BE points per competition' of each gender were compared. Significant differences in per...
Ricard A, Danvy S, Legarra A.Genomic evaluations often use as pseudo-phenotypes corrected means of progeny performances, like daughter yield deviations (DYD) in dairy species. In horse breeding, own performances are also available and performances from other relatives (as half sibs) may play an important part in the EBV because the number of progeny remains low, even for stallions. The first step for genomic selection in horses is therefore to generate pseudo-phenotypes for genomic analysis when parental or own information is considered. This work presents an easy method to compute deregressed EBV from regular pedigree-ba...
