Two researchers from the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales studied the strategy of gait in a gallop race.
Using speed data from the Chantilly races, they defined a mathematical model that provides the optimal gait strategy for horses over a fixed distance. This makes it possible to understand the speed, the evolution of the oxygen uptake in a race, as well as the energy or the propulsive force and to predict the changes of rhythm according to the properties (altitude and flexion) of the track. .
This study was based on tracking data collected using the McLloyd HPv2 high precision sensor, with courtesy of France Galop.