Local Back Pressure Caused by a Training Roller During Lunging With and Without a Pessoa Training Aid

Impact of Gait and Diameter during Circular Exercise on Front Hoof Area, Vertical Force, and Pressure in Mature Horses

Circular exercise can be used at varying gaits and diameters to exercise horses, with repeated use anecdotally relating to increased lameness. This work sought to characterize mean area, mean vertical force, and mean pressure of the front hooves while exercising in a straight line at the walk and trot, and small (10-m diameter) and large circles (15-m diameter) at the walk, trot, and canter. Nine mature horses wore TekscanTM Hoof Sensors on their forelimbs adhered with a glue-on shoe. Statistical analysis was performed in SAS 9.4 with fixed effects of leg, gait, and exercise type (PROC GLIMMIX) and p < 0.05 as significant. For all exercise types, the walk had greater mean pressure than the trot (p < 0.01). At the walk, the straight line had greater mean area loaded than the large circle (p = 0.01), and both circle sizes had lower mean vertical force than the straight line (p = 0.003). During circular exercise at the canter, the outside front limb had greater mean area loaded than at the walk and trot (p = 0.001). This study found that gait is an important factor when evaluating circular exercise and should be considered when exercising horses to prevent injury.

A Systematic Approach to Comparing Thermal Activity of the Thoracic Region and Saddle Pressure Distribution beneath the Saddle in a Group of Non-Lame Sports Horses

Simple Summary

Thermography is a non-invasive method for measuring surface temperatures. Due to its ease of use, it may be a convenient way of identifying hypo/hyperthermic areas under a saddle that may be related to saddle pressures. A thermal camera quantified temperatures at specific locations (left/right) of the thoracic region at three-time points; a Pliance (Novel) pressure mat determined the mean/peak saddle pressures (kPa) during a period of exercise. Differences between saddle widths in the cranial/caudal mean and peak saddle pressures were found. The maximum thermal temperatures increased post lunge and post ridden compared to the baseline. No difference between post lunge and post ridden exercise were found. The thermal activity does not appear to be representative of increased saddle pressure values. The sole use of thermal imaging for saddle fitting should be applied with caution.

Abstract

Thermography is a non-invasive method for measuring surface temperatures and may be a convenient way of identifying hypo/hyperthermic areas under a saddle that may be related to saddle pressures. A thermal camera quantified minimum/maximum/mean temperatures at specific locations (left/right) of the thoracic region at three-time points: (1) baseline; (2) post lunging; (3) post ridden exercise in eight non-lame sports horses ridden by the same rider. A Pliance (Novel) pressure mat determined the mean/peak saddle pressures (kPa) in the cranial and caudal regions. General linear mixed models with the horse as the random factor investigated the time point (fixed factor: baseline; lunge; ridden) and saddle fit (fixed factor: correct; wide; narrow) on thermal parameters with Bonferroni post hoc comparison. The saddle pressure data (grouped: saddle width) were assessed with an ANOVA and Tukey post hoc comparison (p ≤ 0.05). Differences between the saddle widths in the cranial/caudal mean (p = 0.05) and peak saddle pressures (p = 0.01) were found. The maximum temperatures increased post lunge (p ≤ 0.0001) and post ridden (p ≤ 0.0001) compared to the baseline. No difference between post lunge and post ridden exercise (all p ≥ 0.51) was found. The thermal activity does not appear to be representative of increased saddle pressure values. The sole use of thermal imaging for saddle fitting should be applied with caution.

RÉDEAS PESSOA E LATERAL ATIVAM OS MESMOS MÚSCULOS SUPERFICIAIS EM EQUINOS

Objetivou-se identificar o padrão de ativação da musculatura superficial, por meio da termografia infravermelha, em cavalos atletas submetidos ao treinamento com rédea Pessoa ou lateral, monitorando-se as regiões cervical, torácica, dorsal, abdominal e pélvica. Foram utilizados dez equinos atletas da raça Quarto de Milha, delineados em parcelas subdivididas, resultando em dez repetições por tratamento. Utilizou-se dois tratamentos; no primeiro grupo os cavalos foram treinados a guia com o uso da rédea Pessoa e no segundo tratamento realizou-se o treino mediante uso da rédea Lateral. Imagens termográficas foram realizadas após dez minutos de trabalho a guia com as rédeas Pessoa e Lateral. As temperaturas médias da pele (Tp) foram analisadas para cinco regiões específica do corpo do cavalo, representando as regiões cervical, torácica, dorsal, abdominal e pélvica. Verificou-se ausência de efeito significativo (P>0,05) do uso das rédeas auxiliares Pessoa e Lateral sobre a ativação da musculatura superficial das regiões corporais cervical, torácica, dorsal, abdominal e pélvica, no qual os valores observados para Tp foram, respectivamente, de 33,23 e 33,62; 33,80 e 33,30; 32,83 e 32,42; 33,24 e 33,12; 33,43 e 33,30 °C. Concluiu-se que as rédeas auxiliares Pessoa e Lateral possuem o mesmo padrão de ativação da musculatura superficial em cavalos atletas.