Colleges

ETB-Pegasus for Colleges

Horse prepared with ETB-Pegasus equipment at Otley College to teach students the effects of training aids on stride characteristics.

To view the research activities where ETB-Pegasus is being used, please click here.

Teaching students how horses move and which factors affect stride characteristics is an important part of many equine courses. Until now this has been limited to simple video footage or computer/web-based simulations.

However, the disadvantages are that high speed video with slow motion capability and sophisticated gait analysis systems are expensive, technically demanding and often unsuited to teaching.

ETB-Pegasus offers a fresh approach:

Accurate
Easy to Use
Affordable
Versatile, can be used in the field or on the treadmill
Lightweight, yet robust
Suitable for teaching, student projects or staff research projects

ETB-Pegasus systems use inertial measuring units (IMU’s)/sensors within brushing boots and a GPS sensor on the rider’s hat. The number of sensors used depends on the system being used, e.g. Stride System uses one sensor, the Limb Phasing System uses four. The systems are excellent training and diagnostic tools for students, yet its robustness makes it suitable for use by students without supervision.

Below are some ideas of how the ETB-Pegasus Systems can help students study horse motion as well as the research link above which shows the projects we have involvement in. We are always happy to discuss more detailed instructions to carry out these research ideas. Our staff can provide technical support, but you will find that our system is very easy to use.

What is the effect of different surfaces on Stride Length and Stride Frequency?
Hypothesis: Stride Length will be longer and Stride Frequency will be shorter on soft surfaces.

What is the effect of exercise on flat and inclined surfaces?
Hypothesis: When a horse moves up an incline its Stride Frequency decreases compared with exercise on a flat surface.

Stride length of a large horse versus that of a small horse.
Hypothesis: The Stride Length of a horse should be in proportion to its leg length. The longer the leg—the longer the Stride Length.

Are horses symmetrical in their gait?
Hypothesis: Horses are frequently not symmetrical in the way they move.

What is the effect of working a horse in a straight line and on a circle on Stride Length, Stride Frequency and Speed?
Hypothesis: When turning on a circle, horses take shorter strides.

What is the effect of warm up on Stride Length?
Hypothesis: Horses will have a longer Stride Length at the same speed after warm-up.

Effect of Speed and Gait on Stride Length and Stride Frequency.
Hypothesis: Horses increase their speed by using a combination of increasing Stride Length and increasing Stride Frequency and this varies between gaits and between different horses.