Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Like humans are right or left handed, studies support the theory that horses has the same natural bias that is innate. It is important that riders and trainers know if the horse has a natural asymmetry or whether an asymmetry is caused by pain, lameness. If the riders or trainers are able to detect new asymmetries or changes in the horse natural movement pattern in an early stage, it is possible that further damage is avoided. The aim of the study was to compare symmetry in horses unridden at trot on a straight line versus ridden and with different seats. The rider alters between left rising trot with contact on the reins, right rising trot with contact on the reins, light seat with minimal contact on the reins and sitting trot with contact. The questions asked in the study are if the riders make the horses more or less asymmetric? How does it affect the symmetry if the horse is ridden in the four different seats mentioned above?
The 13 horses in the study are school horses used in the Equine Studies programme at The Swedish National Equestrian Centre Strömsholm. All horses were considered healthy by the owner and they were in full training in their discipline, show jumping or dressage on low to medium level. The method used to collect data for the study was the objective motion analysis system Lameness Locator. The horses were tested in five different situations during one long side in an indoor riding arena. The starting order for the different situations in each horse was randomized.
Results show that the fact that there is a rider on the horse in itself does not influence the symmetry in the horses. In the light seat it does not influence the horse’s symmetry significantly either, but it becomes clear that both left and right rising trot has a significant impact on all of the horses’ symmetry. This is also supported by previous studies. By riding in rising trot the rider can make an asymmetry in the hindlimbs more visible or less visible depending on the horse’s natural symmetry and which hindlimb the rider sits on. The results of this study can only be applied on this group of horses with this kind of rider. How it affects the symmetry in younger or more unbalanced horses with a heavier or more unbalanced rider on needs further investigation.

I Sverige finns det cirka 360 000 hästar, det vill säga 39 hästar per 1000 invånare. Dessa siffror gör Sverige till det näst hästtätaste landet i Europa. Antalet hästar har femdubblats det senaste 30 åren och över en halv miljon människor rider regelbundet. (HNS 2013-10-16) Med ett ökande antal hästar får hästvärlden flera ögon på sig, och det är viktigt ur djurskyddsaspekter att de som hanterar och tränar hästar verkligen vet att de hästar som rids är helt friska. Flertalet studier visar att hälta hos häst är den vanligaste orsaken till veterinärbehandlingar och utslagning av hästar (Egenvall 2006; Penell 2005).