Quantification Of Biomechanical Interactions Between Dressage Horse And Rider

Abstract

The equine sport of Dressage subjectively judges how well a horse and rider move together. Dressage experts believe that a horse cannot move at its potential without the optimal level of balance and communication with the rider. The availability of measurable horse-rider interactions would benefit Dressage training, instruction and judging. PURPOSE To correlate the horse' stifle- and hock- angle ranges with the rider's hip- and knee- angle ranges. METHODS Ten adult Dressage riders rode a school horse over an indoor course. To assess the horse' stifle- and hock-, and the rider's hip- and knee- angles, reflective markers were placed over palpable skeletal regions along the horse's hind limb, and on the following landmarks of each rider: shoulder, hip, knee and ankle. Two 60 Hz video cameras were positioned 15 meters apart to gather kinematic data. Following a 5-minute warm-up period, each rider performed five trotting (sitting) trials along the calibrated track. All riders were filmed within a 6-hour period, with their order randomized. One stride cycle from each trial was captured and digitized using Peak Motus® Pan and Tilt Software. The average angle ranges of each horse-rider combination were calculated and correlated. RESULTS Correlations were found between horse and rider angular kinematics (Table 1). A moderately high negative correlation was found between the rider's hip- and knee- angles (r = −0.77), and the horse's stifle angle (r = −0.70). A smaller change in a rider's hip angle coincided with greater movement from the stifle, a power-producing joint (Cano et al., 1999). Therefore, rider position is strongly correlated with stifle action.Table 1: r and r2 values of joint anglesCONCLUSION It appears stifle movement is strongly associated with rider kinematics. While Dressage instructors and judges have been mainly concerned with hock movement, these results suggest that additional emphasis should be placed on the stifle movement when considering horse-rider interactions. Support through grant from the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, UMD.