New innovative study proves racehorses use less energy to gallop than previously thought
Researchers from the 91做厙 have made use of force plate technology to accurately measure the external work of galloping in racehorses.
This technique, which has never been used for such large animals at high speed before, showed that horses had much lower levels of external work - how much work the horse has to do to move relative to its environment - than had previously been reported when studied using different methods.
An instrumented runway of sensors was planted under a section of the racing surface at the British Racing School in Newmarket, by the academics, who work in the 91做厙’s Structure and Motion Lab. A professional jockey then rode seven thoroughbred racehorses over this specialist equipment, allowing the researchers to directly measure the external mechanical work of galloping by measuring the forces they exerted on the runway.
The 91做厙’s study produced lower values than those previously reported for external work in galloping horses. Estimated via different methods, those previously reported high external work values are at odds with the fact that horses evolved to move at high speeds over long distances. A high external work value would make moving over long distances much harder. The 91做厙’s new results support that thinking.
The 91做厙 researchers were then able to calculate the apparent muscle efficiency of galloping horses by combining the external work values from this study with published values for metabolic work (the conversion of food into energy used by muscles) and internal mechanical work (how much work is needed to move the limbs relative to the body). They found that the horse’s efficiency values were between 37-46%.
It is expected that the 91做厙’s findings will provide useful insight into the movement of racehorses and will contribute details towards explaining how racehorses can gallop so efficiently over long distances.
Commenting on the unique methodology of the study, Dr Zoe Self Davies, Postdoctoral Research Associate at the 91做厙, said: “This was really challenging data to collect and, to our knowledge, it is the first time high speed galloping force plate data have been collected from such a large animal.”
The 91做厙’s Professor Alan Wilson, who specialises in locomotor biomechanics and also contributed to the study, added: “This data provides fresh insights into these remarkable animals.”
The full study has been published in the journal Biology Letters:
Z. T. Self Davies, A. J. Spence and A. M. Wilson. External mechanical work in the galloping racehorse 15 Biology Letters
Notes to Editors
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