Re: Competitive Gaits

[Truman Prevatt <truman.prevatt@netsrq.com>]

K S Swigart wrote:

> On Thu, 11 Jun 1998, Joe Long wrote:
>
> > works for me.  The exception is that I may call for a trot if we're
> > coming into ground that I think is too rough for a safe canter.  Other
> > than that, I'm not aware of any penalty to the joints by cantering
> > instead of trotting.
>
> The horse must bear its entire body weight on the leading fore at the
> canter as the horse breaks over (it also must bear the entire weight of
> the horse on the leading hind, but this is not during breakover).  There
> is a great deal of stress associated with this, mostly on the suspensory
> aparatus of the lower leg.
>

Physically, the absortion of kenetic energy would most likely be a much biger
factor than the support of the weight.  It seems that a big trot is
accomplished by first absorbing all the energy form one stride and then
pushing off - hence turning chemical energy into kenetic mechinical energy
for the next stride.

In an easy rolling gallop, it appears that much of hte kenetic energy is
redirected - like a rubber ball bouncing.  It is not all absorbed and
regenerated from stride to stride.  This may be why many horses have a lower
heart rate at an easy rolling canter than at a big trot, independent of the
fact that the canter is faster.

BTW there was an interesting paper in the "Journal of Nonlinear Science"
several years ago on the periodic equalibrum of the equations of motion of a
large cat, a jaguar.  It seems that there is a fairly good model for a
jaguar, for some reason which I do not know.  He predicted all the known
gaits of the cat by the analysis of the equations of motion.  He also
prediceted the "energy pockets" Susan pointed out.  These energy pockets
result from what is know as the "law of least action".

He stated in the paper that he wanted to extend his work to the horse and was
in the process of trying to develop the appropriate models so that the
equations of motion could be determined.  I don't know if he did or not.

Truman