Gait quality scoring data of Franches-Montagnes stallions at walk and trot on a treadmill by experts of the breed and their reliability.

This research study focuses on the measurement and scoring system used to evaluate the gait quality of Franches-Montagnes stallions while walking and trotting on a treadmill. Six experts of this breed rated various traits using video recordings, with their reliability assessed over two tests across a two-year period.

Research Methodology

• The study was performed on 24 stallions of the Franches-Montagnes horse breed. These horses were selected for the uniformity of their breed characteristics ideal for such studies.
• Six experts of the breed were employed to score the horses. These experts had extensive knowledge and experience with the Franches-Montagnes breed and were capable of precisely evaluating and grading the horses’ performances.
• The scoring was performed using video recordings of the horses walking and trotting on a treadmill. The treadmill was used to standardize the conditions for each horse and eliminate any external variables which might be present during an outdoor walk or trot.
• Six traits at walk and eight at trot were scored for each stallion. These traits have not been specified in the abstract but presumably, they relate to the accuracy, smoothness, rhythm, and so on, of the horse’s gait.
• A scale of one to nine was used for the scoring, which is a typical scale employed in similar horse performance studies.
• The same video recordings were scored twice by each expert, with a two-year interval between scorings. This was intended as a measure to evaluate the scoring consistency of the experts over a significant period of time.

Data Analysis and Reliability

• The video sequences were presented in a different order during the second scoring. This was done to prevent any potential bias or memory effect which might influence the scores during the second viewing.
• No feedback was given to the experts about their first scoring before the second scoring was performed. This ensured that their second scoring was not influenced by any possible discussions or adjustments in their judgment that might follow knowing their initial scores.
• In order to measure the reliability of the scores given by the experts, an intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was used. ICC is a widely-used statistical measure for evaluating the consistency, reproducibility, or agreement between ratings provided by different raters (inter-rater reliability) or between two sets of ratings given by the same rater at different times (intra-rater reliability).