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Stave Off Rehab Setbacks With An Equine Motion Sensor

When an injury requires a horse to be on stall rest, the owner often has more time to fawn and fuss over it. Even the most devoted owner, however, cannot monitor her horse 24/7, and this means subtle changes in movement that could indicate a potential setback during recovery might go unnoticed. An inertial measurement unit (IMU) can help owners track the movement of stall-bound horses and help owners recognize when a complication might be looming.

“An IMU consists of small, wearable sensors that record information about a horse's movement, particularly the type, speed, and step count,” explained Catherine Whitehouse, M.S., a Kentucky Equine Research nutritionist. For many injuries, successful rehabilitation depends on a certain amount of movement. “Bearing weight during rehabilitation promotes circulation by delivering nutrients and oxygen to the injured tissues,” Whitehouse said.

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Decreased mobility of an injured horse during stall confinement could be an early indication of poorly managed pain or a potentially life-threatening complication. If identified early, specific interventions can be implemented, such as improved pain management and alterations in the rehabilitation protocol.

To assess the validity of a commercial IMU, a Canadian veterinary team recruited six horses.^* Sensors were placed at three different locations on the same horse (withers, right forelimb, and right hindlimb), and the horse's movements measured on the IMU were compared to direct observation.

“The data showed that the limb sensors accurately counted steps in stalled horses,” Whitehouse said. “The IMU proved itself a valuable tool in the early detection of movement reduction that could signal pain or complications and ultimately improve patient outcome.”

Another way to support horses during layup is by offering a nutritional supplement designed to support the skeletal system.

^*Steinke, S.L., J.B. Montgomery, and J.M. Barden. 2021. Accelerometry-based step count validation for horse movement analysis during stall confinement. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8:681213.

Article reprinted courtesy of Kentucky Equine Research (KER). Visit equinews.com for the latest in equine nutrition and management, and subscribe to The Weekly Feed to receive these articles directly (equinews.com/newsletters).

The post Stave Off Rehab Setbacks With An Equine Motion Sensor appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Obese Horses More Likely To Move Unevenly

In an effort to determine how added weight affects equine fitness and performance, Dr. Anna Jansson and a research team from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Hólar University published a study in Physiological Reports in which horses were fed controlled diets to add or restrict weight gain. The scientists used nine Icelandic horses that they split into two groups. Changes in body weight and fat were induced in the group being fed a high-energy diet for 36 days.

During the last seven days of the study period, researchers recorded body condition score and weight, and percentage of body fat was estimated with an ultrasound. Each horse was then given an exercise test on a treadmill and a field test that mimicked a competition, which was scored by judges. Blood samples were taken, as well as heart rate, temperature and respiratory rate.

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On the treadmill test, the horses that had gained weight had a higher heart rate and temperature, and heavier respiration. Blood tests showed that heavier horses had lower physiological fitness.

The team also found that overweight horses showed a marked gait asymmetry compared with leaner horses, as was shown both by sensors placed on the horses while they moved. The heavier horses moved most asymmetrically on the day after their field test.

Judges overseeing the field test also scored heavier horses lower than their leaner counterparts, suggesting that weight affects performance.

The authors conclude that higher body fat and body weight lowers equine performance, made horses move more unevenly, and delayed their recovery from exercise.

Read the full study here.

Study: Do Laminitic Horses Move Differently, And If So, How Should We Shoe Them?

German researchers created a study to compare hoof loading patterns of laminitic and sound horses. They used 16 sound horses and ponies as controls, 17 animals that had recently recovered from laminitis and 21 animals that had recovered from laminitis 6 to 12 weeks before.

The scientists placed an instrumented boot on the horses and had them walk across a level, concrete surface with a pressure sensor.

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The sound horses bore the most weight (peak loading) at the toe during mid-stance; the laminitis horses showed peak loading at breakover, when the hoof goes from full loading to leaving the ground. Interestingly, the laminitic group did not show an increase in loading in the heel region; the middle hoof bore most of the weight in loading.

The study team concluded that laminitic horses should be shod with support focused on the middle of the hoof, frog and heel. They should also be shod with the intent to ease breakover, which should reduce loading of the damaged lamellae in the toe.

Study Finds That Trailering Is A Full-Body Workout For Horses

Many studies have been done on a horse's preferred position while traveling in a horse trailer, but not much is known on how the horse's body reacts while the trailer is in motion.

A research team led by Dr. Robert Colborne created a horse trailer that allowed them to study how a horse's body moves to compensate for trailer movement. They found that a horse's legs play a key role in dampening road vibrations from the trailer floor and helping a horse maintain his balance.

The study trailer had fitted force plates that allowed researchers to measure precisely how a horse moves in response to braking, turning, acceleration, and constant speed horses experience on a typical trailer trip. Two study horses were taken on a 56-mile trip that took 58 minutes to complete; it covered both city and country roads.

They discovered that in total, the horse's bodies moved over 228 and 320 feet vertically during the trip. Though these values seem large, the horse's movement was still less than the vertical movement of the trailer floor. This indicates that horse's use their legs as springs to dampen trailer vibrations.

The horses also adjusted their bodies horizontally to deal with braking. The team found that the horses moved 745 and 797 feet horizontally over the course of the trip. The horses swayed over 11 inches back and forth and side to side during the trip.

It is expected that as horses become more seasoned travelers that their energy expenditure to stay upright and maintain balance would decrease.