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OJVRTM
Online Journal of Veterinary Research©
Volume 3: 15-20, 1999. Redacted 2018.
Gait
Transitions in Horses
James R. Rooney*, D.V.M.
Gluck
Equine Research Center, Department of Veterinary
Science, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, *jrooney@skipjack.bluecrab.org
SUMMARY
Rooney JR., Gait transitions in horses, Onl J Vet Res., 3:15-20, 1999. There has
long been interest in terrestrial locomotor function. Of particular interest
have been the transitions which occur among the several gaits: walk to run in
bipeds and trot to gallop in quadrupeds. Vilensky et
al (1991) have reviewed the literature on the trot/gallop transition in
quadrupeds. They concluded that there was no complete explanation for the
underlying mechanism of this transition. The walk to trot transition (or
transition to another slow gait such as the rack, pace, fox-trot, single foot,
canter) of quadrupeds has received less attention than the trot to gallop
transition since no consistent transition point between the walk and these
other gaits could be made. Rooney (1998) observed that such demarcation is
difficult in horses because the footfall pattern, the sequence of steps, is the
same for the walk and all the slow gaits including the canter. It is only with
the shift to the gallop that the basic footfall pattern is significantly
modified. McMahon (1975) demonstrated that in horses the transition from trot
to gallop occurred at a stride frequency of about 1.8 Hz. Thompson et al(1989) found the transition at 2.06 Hz as the average of
four Thoroughbred horses on a treadmill. It is well-known, however, that horses
can be trained to change at other frequencies and that Standardbred racehorses
can by genetic selection and training achieve high velocities without changing
from the pace or trot to the gallop. This will be considered further in the
discussion. This study offers another approach to the trot/gallop transition in
horses.
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