A comparison of forces acting on the horse's back and the stability of the rider's seat in different positions at the trot.

The aim of the study was to compare the stability of the rider as well as the forces acting on a horse's back with different seating positions at the trot (sitting trot, rising trot and two-point seat). The same experienced rider was mounted on 10 sound horses trotting on a treadmill. The kinetic data were recorded with an electronic pressure mat, placed under a well-fitting dressage saddle with no saddle pad. The rider used three different seating positions, each for 20 s. Right forelimb motion was used to synchronise the pressure data with the stride cycles. To determine the rider's stability, the movement of the centre of pressure (COP) along the transverse (X) and longitudinal (Y) axes was calculated. The force was taken as the sum of all segments of the pressure pad multiplied by the area of the pressure pad. The maximum force and the X- and Y-deviations were evaluated using ANOVA for repeated measures with a Bonferroni Post hoc test. The stability of the rider in the Y-direction was significantly highest in the two-point seat, followed by the rising trot and the sitting trot, respectively. In the X-direction, there was no significant difference between the three positions. The significantly highest load on the horse's back was at the sitting trot (2112 N), followed by the rising trot (2056 N) and the two-point seat (1688 N). The rider was most stable in the two-point seat while transferring the lowest load on the horse's back. The rising trot was found to be more stable and less stressful for the horse's back compared to the sitting trot.

[1]  D. Liepsch,et al.  3D LDA and ultrasound flow-wire measurements in carotid artery models with stents , 1998 .

[2]  T. Licka,et al.  Evaluation of the force acting on the back of the horse with an English saddle and a side saddle at walk, trot and canter. , 2006, Equine veterinary journal. Supplement.

[3]  W Back,et al.  Effects of girth, saddle and weight on movements of the horse. , 2010, Equine veterinary journal.

[4]  K M Newell,et al.  Time scales of adaptive behavior and motor learning in the presence of stochastic perturbations. , 2009, Human movement science.

[5]  J. Harman.  Tack and saddle fit. , 1999, The Veterinary clinics of North America. Equine practice.

[6]  C Peham,et al.  Evaluation of pressure distribution under an English saddle at walk, trot and canter. , 2010, Equine veterinary journal.

[7]  C A Geutjens,et al.  Forces and pressures beneath the saddle during mounting from the ground and from a raised mounting platform. , 2008, Veterinary journal.

[8]  M. Holmes,et al.  Validity of saddle pressure measurements using force-sensing array technology--preliminary studies. , 1999, Veterinary journal.

[9]  Christian Peham,et al.  A new method to quantify harmony of the horse–rider system in dressage , 2001 .

[10]  C Peham,et al.  Influence of the rider on the variability of the equine gait. , 2004, Human movement science.

[11]  C Peham,et al.  Speed dependency of motion pattern consistency. , 1998, Journal of biomechanics.

[12]  W I Schöllhorn,et al.  A pattern recognition approach for the quantification of horse and rider interactions. , 2006, Equine veterinary journal. Supplement.

[13]  T. Licka,et al.  Electromyographic activity of the longissimus dorsi muscles in horses when walking on a treadmill. , 2004, Veterinary journal.

[14]  T. Licka,et al.  Electromyographic activity of the longissimus dorsi muscles in horses during trotting on a treadmill. , 2004, American journal of veterinary research.

[15]  P. Pourcelot,et al.  Effects of treadmill speed on the mechanics of the back in the trotting saddlehorse. , 2001, Equine veterinary journal. Supplement.

[16]  Christian Peham,et al.  The influence of the width of the saddle tree on the forces and the pressure distribution under the saddle. , 2007, Veterinary journal.

[17]  P. R. van Weeren,et al.  Saddle pressure measuring: validity, reliability and power to discriminate between different saddle-fits. , 2006, Veterinary journal.