Analyzing a horses way of going can predict Show Jumping performance in 3-day Eventing
The Study
The researchers filmed horse inspections on the first day before the dressage and on the 3rd day, before the showjumping phase at five events across four levels of eventing. Footage from 197 horses was taken, and a total of 194 horses were used for the study.
The competitions and pool of horses were split across:
- CCI-2* (101 horses)
- CCI-3* (71 horses)
- CCI-4* (22 horses)
The trained AI automatically identified 26 physiological landmarks on each horse and a custom pipeline then calculated gait parameters mathematically. The 194 horses were assigned a label based on their performance: "Clear round" or "Faults".
The six gait parameters that the researchers analyzed the horses for:
- Duty Factor (measurement of time the right hind spent on the ground)
- Hind Limb swing phase
- Forelimb swing phase
- Fetlock joint range
- Stride Length
- Speed
They then also combined these parameters to create a canonical score, which was like an overall way of going score.
Results
The researchers examined the relationship between the individual gait parameters from the pre-competition trot-up and the horses show jumping performance. They found that there was a statistical significant association between specific gait parameters and horses having a clear round. These were for the pre-competition trot up: duty factor, stride length, speed and hind limb swing phase.
As a measure of time the right hind hoof spends on the ground during a stride cycle, a higher duty factor during the first inspection was seen mainly in horses who collected faults in their show jumping.
Horses with a shorter stride length and less swing in the hind limb were also more likely to incur faults.
When the six parameters were combined to create the canonical score (also knows as the post cross country changes in gait), there was a correlation between this and the show jumping performance. Horses with larger changes in gait scores were less likely to achieve a clear round. Horses with less alterations in their way of going had a better chance of a clear round.
Conclusion
Horses with greater change in gait post cross country were less successful in the show jumping phase, and were more likely to incur faults. It is proposed that this is due to horses being fatigued. An increase in the duty factor, decrease in stride length and changes in swing angles are associated with a "shuffle step", indicative of a fatigued gait. This predictive model holds promise for the detection of the gait changes relevant to equine welfare and evaluations.
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Reference
Johns, L.T., Smythe, M.P., Dewberry, S., Staiger, E.A., Allen, K. and Brooks, S.A. (2024). Digital video analysis reveals gait parameters that predict performance in the jumping test phase of three-day eventing. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, pp.105166–105166. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jevs.2024.105166.