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Can Locomotion Asymmetry in Young Trotters Predict Early Race Performance?
Author(s) -
Ringmark S,
Jansson A,
Roepstorff L
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_144
Subject(s) - lameness , stride , gait , medicine , physical medicine and rehabilitation , analysis of variance , demography , physical therapy , surgery , sociology
Lameness is the most common health problem of racehorses and may affect both welfare and performance. The aim of this study was to investigate if locomotion asymmetry in a group of young horses was related to delayed qualification for races. Methods Locomotion asymmetry was measured every 1–3 months with a wireless inertial sensor based lameness evaluation system in 16 horses fourteen times between S eptember of the year they were 1‐year olds and M ay of the year they were 3‐year olds. As 3‐year‐olds they passed their qualification race and after this, two subgroups were created for the study based on whether they passed their qualification race before June 21st (early group, n = 6) or after September 19th (late group, n = 6). The groups were compared with respect to the differences in vertical head (forelimbs) and pelvis (hindlimbs) movement (as measured by the L ameness L ocator, Equinosis) during each stride cycle at trot. The vector sums ( VS ) of maximum and minimum difference from each sensor were calculated and used for statistical analyses. ANOVA (Proc mixed model including individual {random}, date and group) was used to analyse differences between groups. Results The late group had higher VS for forelimbs (16.0 ± 1.0) than the early group (12.6 ± 1.0) (P = 0.04) in total over the whole period. The VS for hind limbs did not differ between groups. Conclusions Front limb locomotion asymmetry in young horses in training is associated with delayed qualification for races. However, further studies are warranted to investigate causality. Ethical Animal Research The study was approved by the local ethics committee in U meå, S weden. Explicit owner informed consent for participation in this study is not stated. Sources of funding: S wedish U niversity of A gricultural S ciences, the S wedish N ational T rotting S chool, W ången, the S wedish T rotting A ssociation, The S wedish H orse C ouncil F oundation, the S wedish H orse R acing T otalisator B oard ( ATG ), Trioplast AB and D ow C hemicals. Competing interests: none.