Examining stance phases with the help of infrared optical sensors in horses

Authors: OZAN GÜNDEMİR, DİLEK OLĞUN ERDİKMEN, ZİYNET DİLA ATEŞPARE, KOZET AVANUS

Abstract: The purpose of the present study was to examine the walking phases in horses using the OptoGait system, which works with optical sensors. In this pilot study, 52 healthy horses were used. For each horse, an average of 45 steps were examined. The stance phase, swing phase, step distance, and walking speeds of the horses were recorded. The stance phase of each step was examined in a separate manner in 3 steps: contact phase, foot flat, and propulsive phase. The contact phase and the propulsive phase of the forelimb and hind limb were significantly different. The propulsive phase was significantly shorter in the forelimb compared to in the hind limb, and the contact phase was significantly shorter in the hind limb. The fact that the propulsive phase of the European warmblood horses used in our study was longer than that of the British and Arabian horses was significant. It is considered that this technique might be used in the diagnosis of lameness in horses in the future with the reference measurements that were created with these data obtained from healthy horses.

Keywords: Biomechanics, horse walking analysis, stance phase, veterinary anatomy

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