Lower Limb Research at the Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium

Probably the foremost biomechanics researcher in the country, Hilary Clayton, BVMS, PhD, MRCVS, McPhail Dressage Chair in Equine Sports Medicine at Michigan State University’s McPhail Equine Performance Center, discussed recent lower limb research during the 16th annual Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium. Some of the studies she described were performed in collaboration with researchers at

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Probably the foremost biomechanics researcher in the country, Hilary Clayton, BVMS, PhD, MRCVS, McPhail Dressage Chair in Equine Sports Medicine at Michigan State University’s McPhail Equine Performance Center, discussed recent lower limb research during the 16th annual Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium. Some of the studies she described were performed in collaboration with researchers at California State Polytechnic University.

She initially focused on kinematics (motion) of the fore and hind limbs. “The maximum velocity of the horse’s hoof is about double that of the horse’s maximum velocity,” she noted. “So for a horse that’s running at about 40 mph, the maximal speed of the hoof as it swings forward is about 80 mph. That’s pretty darn fast.”

She then compared durations of the swing and stance phases of the limbs during trotting. “Stride duration, which is the sum of stance and swing durations, decreases as speed increases. In the forelimb, the swing phase doesn’t change much with increased speed,” she said. “So, the reduction in stride duration is from a decreased duration of the stance phase–the leg spends the same amount of time in the air, but less on the ground.” In the hind limb, both the swing phase and the stance phase durations decrease with increased speed.

“The limbs push against the ground during the stance phase to provide propulsion. When the stance phase shortens with increased speed, the horse must generate higher forces to compensate for the decrease in contact time,” she said. “With humans, and likely also with horses, the ability to achieve high sprinting speeds is influenced more by the ability to generate large forces in the stance phase than the ability to move the limb rapidly during swing

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Christy West has a BS in Equine Science from the University of Kentucky, and an MS in Agricultural Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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