Equine Wellness Seminars are a fantastic way to become more familiar with your horse's state of being. Be able to detect subtle issues before they become a major issue for your horse by learning simple techniques. Wellness education is within your reach, make the move to learn more today! See the Clininc tab for more information on current clinics.
Science furthers the understanding of equine locomotion! Click the link below to watch a digitized video of a horse jumping over a 0.8 meter jump.
Consideration
of equine movement requires an understanding of gaits and strides. A gait is a pattern of footfalls that determine the rhythm. A stride is defined as a full sequence of footfalls from all four feet, hoof print to hoof print.
The digital image of a horse jumping is showing hind limb placement on a force platform relative to the base of the obstacle. The forelimb during jumping acts as a brake, with the higher jumps requiring more forelimb action during take off. The same effect is seen during normal locomotion over ground, with the forelimb providing first braking power and then forward propulsion as the body passes over the vertical stance phase of the limb.
Regular over ground locomotion has been studied extensively over the past decade and has provided us with much knowledge of equine movement. Understanding the mechanics of normal movement can be of great help with regards to equine wellness. Consider the following a basic primer on equine locomotion.
The organized sequence of footfalls determines how the limbs
are synchronized during a stride.
Each step can be broken down
into 2 phases, stance and swing.
To create
over-ground movement, the horse must apply pressure to the ground via an
extended limb (stance phase) and advance by pulling the torso over that
limb. After the horse moves over the
limb, the limb leaves the ground; it is then flexed and brought closer to the
body (swing phase) so that it may be extended again for the next step.
The
duration the leg is in contact with the ground is called the time of
contact. Allowing adequate time of
contact for the horse to produce movement is important to maintain gait
quality. Moving too slowly will result
in lack of impulsion with energy being wasted due to the delay between loading the limb and elastic return of the stored energy in elastic tissues. Conversely, steps that are hurried will result in a loss of
rhythm and result in poor gait quality.
Remember that a horse
that is said to be “forward” is not moving at the fastest velocity possible for
that gait, and by hurrying your horse there is an increased chance of injury
and a definite decrease in gait quality.
Injury
can occur if correct biomechanics are not used during movement, leading to
accumulated tension patterns that can hinder normal movement or even lead to injury!
Consideration
of equine movement requires an understanding of gaits and strides. A gait is a pattern of footfalls that determine the rhythm. A stride is defined as a full sequence of footfalls from all four feet, hoof print to hoof print.