Effect of induced hindlimb length difference on bodymounted inertial sensor measures of hindlimb lameness in horses

Abstract

This study has investigated the effect of induced hindlimb length difference on differences in minimum and maximum pelvic heights in horses trotting in a straight line and lungeing on both hard and soft surfaces. The horses were trotted in a straight line and lunged in both directions on both hard and soft surfaces. Wilcoxon ranked sum tests were used to determine the effect of hindlimb length difference on differences in minimum (Pmin) and maximum (Pmax) pelvic height values. Difference in Pmin, indicating an impacttype lameness, in the limb with the elevation, was consistently measured in both the straight line and while lungeing. Difference in Pmax, indicating pushoff-type lameness, in the opposite, non-elevated limb, was found in the straight line but not while lungeing. A limited extended elevation trial was performed with no definitive pattern of results obtained. Statistics were not performed on this data and future study in this area is warranted.