Examining stance phases with the help of infrared optical sensors in horses

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the walking phases in horses using the OptoGait system, which works withoptical sensors. In this pilot study, 52 healthy horses were used. For each horse, an average of 45 steps were examined. The stance phase,swing phase, step distance, and walking speeds of the horses were recorded. The stance phase of each step was examined in a separatemanner in 3 steps: contact phase, foot flat, and propulsive phase. The contact phase and the propulsive phase of the forelimb and hindlimb were significantly different. The propulsive phase was significantly shorter in the forelimb compared to in the hind limb, and thecontact phase was significantly shorter in the hind limb. The fact that the propulsive phase of the European warmblood horses used inour study was longer than that of the British and Arabian horses was significant. It is considered that this technique might be used in thediagnosis of lameness in horses in the future with the reference measurements that were created with these data obtained from healthyhorses.