Rehabilitation and athletic programs for horses often include water treadmill exercise. However, little research has evaluated the effect of water depth on limb and back kinematics. Therefore, researchers in the United Kingdom sought to determine the effect of walking in different water depths at a constant speed on limb and back kinematics of horses.
Six mature, adult horses were equipped with ten waterproof light markers and reflective spheres attached along the limbs and back. Additionally, inertial-measuring units were attached to the poll, withers, left and right tubera coxae, and sacrum to measure range of motion (ROM). Prior to water treadmill exercise, the horses were walked in-hand over a firm surface for 5 minutes to warm up. On the treadmill, horses walked at 5.25 feet/second for 3 minutes at each water depth: 0, 2.95, 8.27, 13.39, and 18.50 inches. Videography was used to quantify back and limb kinematics during water treadmill exercise.
Flexion in the limb joints (carpal and tarsal) increased at maximum flexion angles during swing as water depths increased. Thoracic spine flexion-extension ROM and dorsoventral and mediolateral ROM of the pelvis increased with increases in water depth. The horses' response to increases in water depth leveled off after reaching a threshold, where water depth was either above or below the carpus depending on the individual horse.
The researchers concluded that changes in limb kinematics brought about by relatively modest increases in water depth at walking speed of 5.25 feet/second are sufficient to induce significant changes in back and pelvic movement.
For more information on this research, view the abstract published in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Sciences.
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