Comparison of the temporal kinematics of the canter pirouette and collected canter

Summary The objectives were to compare the temporal characteristics of canter pirouette strides with collected canter strides in elite dressage horses, and to determine whether the stride kinematics of the canter pirouettes fulfilled the requirements specified in the Fédération Equestre Internationale Rules for Dressage Events. Eleven horses were videotaped (60 fields/s) during the individual medal competition at the 1992 Olympic Games. Temporal variables were extracted from the videotapes using standard methods. Two strides were analysed on each of the left and right leads and these were pooled to give mean values for the collected canter and the pirouettes. The pirouettes were completed in 4–9 strides, (mean of 6.4). In the collected canter strides, mean duration of the suspension was 0.013s. There was no suspension in any of the pirouette strides, instead the stance phases of the leading forelimb and trailing hindlimb overlapped by a mean of 0.163s. In 9 horses the trailing forelimb contacted the ground before the diagonal leading hindlimb in the collected canter, whereas in the pirouettes the leading hindlimb always made contact before the trailing forelimb (mean dissociation 0.164s), giving the strides a distinct 4 beat rhythm. Due to increases in advanced placement between the diagonal limb pair and between the 2 forelimbs, the stride duration was longer in the pirouette (0.879s) than the collected canter (0.629s). It is concluded that the canter pirouette strides did not maintain the rhythm and timing of the the collected canter strides in any of the 11 horses.