Avaliação da assimetria da marcha em cavalos sem sela, selados e montados por diferentes cavaleiros em linha reta

Abstract

Lameness is a manifestation of pain from injuries caused to the limbs or the axial skeleton, in addition to being one of the main causes of economic losses for equine owners, knowledge about this disorder is essential. There are two methods to evaluate it, the first being the subjective assessment, which is performed by trained veterinarians, evaluating the horse's movements, and the second is the objective assessment, which uses software that identifies asymmetrical movements of the head and from the pelvis. The Lameness Locator® is one of these objective assessment systems, being an easy-to-use and understand device. The concern with the well-being of horses is constant, especially those animals that practice sport, requiring more targeted studies on how these horses practice sport, that is, with the saddle and with the rider. The objective of this work is to evaluate gait in crioulo horses used in the freio de ouro, when not saddled, saddled and ridden by different riders. Twenty horses of the Crioula breed, freio de ouro modality, who were in training were used. The use of objective evaluation by means of wireless inertial sensors to evaluate the animals' gait allowed both the quantitative analysis of the thoracic limbs (VECTOR SUM, DIFF MAX of the head, DIFF MIN of the head) and of the pelvic limbs (DIFF MAX of the pelvis and DIFF MIN of the pelvis), as well as qualitative (phase of movement, limb affected and intensity of asymmetry) of lameness when present. The animals were divided into two groups: lame and non-lame for the forelimb and hind limb. Estimates were performed at a seated and straight trot, initially bareback, with saddle and mounted by two different riders. Jump claudication was more frequent than impact claudication. As for the intensity of claudication, no difference was observed between the different situations evaluated, with mild lameness being the most frequent. No difference was seen in the qualitative parameters evaluated VECTOR SUM (p≥0,05), head DIFF MAX (p≥0,05), head DIFF MIN (p≥0,05), pelvis DIFF MAX (p≥0,05) and DIFF MIN of the pelvis (p≥0,05) between estimates. When compared between the claudicating and non-clacking groups, the VECTOR SUM obtained a statistical difference (p≥0.05) during the bareback and saddled moments. It is concluded that the saddle and the rider did not influence the gait symmetry of the Crioula horses evaluated in this work, as well as, there is a higher prevalence of lameness in the pelvic limb with mild intensity.