Comparison of the Comformation of 20 International Level and the 20 Low Level Jumping Horses Using a 3‐D Video Morphometric Measurement Method

Abstract

A new method of morphometric measurement has been developed (method presented as a poster at the 2002 EAVA congress). Its main originalities are (1) to use video (each horse is filmed while walking instead of being photographed at standing), (2) to be in 3‐D (4 digital cameras are used; they film the horse from its lateral side, and also from the front and rear), (3) not to require skin markers (which makes the recording procedure quicker). This method is presently applied in the context of the breeding program of the Selle Français (SF) horse, through two large sample studies. Before starting the analysis of the corresponding data, a preliminary study was performed in order to settle the analysis methodology and to select the most pertinent morphometric parameters to characterize the “model” (conformation) of sport horses. Twenty international level SF horses (jumping performance index (ISO) >= 150, group A), and 20 low‐level (class D) jumping horses (group B) were compared using the 3‐D method. Out of the 400 morphometric parameters calculated for each horse, about 132 revealed significant differences (Student test, P < 0,05) between the 2 groups; P was < 0.001 for 26 of these parameters. The height of the main anatomical landmarks of the pelvic limb, acting as essential lever arms for propulsion muscles (ex: point of the hock (tuber calcanei), ischial tuber), and the height – absolute and relative (to the withers height) – of the croup, the length of the croup and thigh, the length of the fore cannon, the shortness of the forearm, and the relative shortness of the trunk, are all conformational traits that characterize group A compared with group B.