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Effect of Side of Handling on Movement Symmetry in Horses
Author(s) -
Hopkins S,
Pfau T
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
equine veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.82
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 2042-3306
pISSN - 0425-1644
DOI - 10.1111/evj.12267_127
Subject(s) - lameness , horse , context (archaeology) , gait , symmetry (geometry) , movement (music) , gait analysis , functional movement , pelvis , physical medicine and rehabilitation , medicine , psychology , surgery , mathematics , physics , biology , geometry , paleontology , acoustics
When horses are trotted in‐hand, this is predominantly performed with the handler on the horse's left side. In the context of objective gait analysis, this study investigated whether the side a horse is led from affects movement symmetry measures used to quantify lameness. We hypothesised that the side which horses were handled from would have no effect on head and pelvic movement symmetry. Methods Vertical movement of head and pelvis was quantified in 23 horses during trot in‐hand with a validated inertial sensor gait analysis system. Established movement symmetry measures commonly used to quantify lameness were calculated for a minimum of 27 strides per condition. Each horse was assessed three times, twice handled from one side, once from the other side, with the initial handling side randomly assigned. Differences in movement symmetry between repeat assessments led from the same side were compared to differences when led from the opposite side using a paired t‐test (P<0.05) Results Which side a horse was led from had no significant effect on either head (all P>0.754) or pelvic (all P>0.514) movement symmetry. Mean differences for head (and pelvic) movement asymmetry were below 2% or 2 mm (0% or 1 mm) for repeat assessments from the same side and below 4% or 2 mm (0% or 1 mm) for opposite side leads. Conclusions The side from which a horse is led does not significantly affect differences in movement symmetry between repeat assessments. Data analysis should be restricted to trials with consistent head carriage and a minimum of 27 strides (previously reported to give a representative estimate of stride‐to‐stride variability). Ethical Animal Research The study was approved by the local ethics committee Sources of funding: none declared. Competing interests: none.