Determining Objective Parameters to Assess Gait Quality in Franches-Montagnes Horses for Ground Coverage and Over-Tracking - Part 2: At Trot.
Authors: Gmel Annik Imogen, Haraldsdóttir Eyrún Halla, Bragança Filipe Manuel Serra, Cruz Antonio M, Neuditschko Markus, Weishaupt Michael Andreas
Journal: Journal of equine veterinary science
Summary
# Editorial Summary Breeding programmes for Franches-Montagnes horses rely on subjective visual assessments of gait quality, yet different judges may prioritise different biomechanical features when evaluating ground coverage and over-tracking at trot. Researchers used three-dimensional motion capture to analyse limb and body kinematics in 24 stallions across a range of trotting speeds (3.3–6.5 m/s), then correlated the objective kinematic parameters with scores assigned by six breeding experts. Front limb stance duration emerged as the strongest predictor of stride length (explaining 16% of variance with motion capture data), whilst suspension duration and hind limb angles were most associated with over-tracking distance (10–20% of variance depending on measurement method); notably, suspension duration showed consistency across expert assessments. Since inertial measurement units (IMUs) can quantify suspension duration and pelvis pitch without expensive laboratory equipment, these portable sensors may offer a practical route to standardising gait evaluation in breeding contexts, though the moderate variance explained by any single parameter highlights that ground coverage and over-tracking are genuinely multifactorial traits. These findings suggest that breeding organisations should establish more precise, biomechanically informed definitions of desirable gait characteristics to ensure consistency between evaluators and avoid inadvertently selecting for movement patterns that may compromise other aspects of equine health or performance.
Read the full abstract on PubMed
Practical Takeaways
- •Ground coverage in trotting horses is primarily driven by front limb stance duration and protraction angle rather than just front limb extension—focus training and conditioning on these specific movement patterns
- •Over-tracking quality depends more on hind limb engagement under the body (suspension duration, pelvis pitch, hind limb retraction angles) than previously emphasized by visual assessment alone
- •Breeding selection based on visual gait assessment should incorporate objective kinematic data, as breeding experts showed variable agreement on which parameters define quality movement
Key Findings
- •Front limb stance duration explained 16-24% of stride length variance depending on measurement method, with suspension duration adding 14% via IMU measurements
- •Over-tracking distance variance was best explained by suspension duration (10-20%) and hind limb contralateral pro-retraction angles (9%) or pelvis pitch (5%)
- •Four of six breeding experts showed significant correlation (r>|0.41|) between their ground coverage scores and front limb protraction angle, suggesting expert assessment aligns with specific kinematic parameters
- •Suspension duration was the only parameter consistently correlated with expert scores for both ground coverage and over-tracking across multiple assessors