Withers vertical movement asymmetry in dressage horses walking in different head-neck positions with and without riders

Abstract

The superimposed influences of different head and neck positions (HNPs) and rider effects on symmetry in sound horses have not been studied. Our aim was to investigate the effects of HNPs and rider on thesymmetry in minimum height of the withers at the walk. Seven high-level dressage horses were studied with and without rider in six HNPs: HNP1, free position; HNP2, dressage competition position; HNP3,flexed poll position; HNP4, over-flexed position; HNP5, extended raised position; and HNP6, forward downward position. Kinematic and vertical ground reaction force data were recorded during 15 s trialson an instrumented treadmill. In mixed models, difference in the minimal height of the withers in earlyleft vs right forelimb stance was modelled as dependent variable. The more restricted HNP3 (T-values2.62 to 1.98, 118 DF,P¼0.001 to

Keywords

Head and neck position; Horse; Dressage; Withers; Vertical asymmetry; Walk

Published in

Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research
2020, volume: 36, pages: 72-83
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC

SLU Authors

• Egenvall, Agneta

  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Byström, Anna

  • Department of Animal Biosciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Roepstorff, Lars

  • Department of Animal Biosciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Rhodin, Marie

  • Department of Animal Biosciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Medical Bioscience

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2019.10.010

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/106828