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OJVRTM
Online Journal of Veterinary Research©
Volume 4:64-72, 1999
Gait
Transitions in Horses
James R. Rooney*, D.V.M. (Prof Emeritus),
SUMMARY
Rooney JR., Gait transitions in
horses, Online J Vet Res., 4:64-72, 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.