A Horse's Shoulder Height and Angle's Effect on Its Stride Length

Overview

Objectives/Goals Our project was to find out if a horse's shoulder height and angle had an effect on it's stride length. We believe if a horse's shoulder angle and height are bigger, then a horse's stride length will be greater. Methods/Materials 18 horses, all variations of quarter horses ( such as a paint, which is a quarter horse with a different coloring) were used. The horses were all brought to an arena and a smooth area was created with a rake, so we could distinguish the hoofprints left by the horses. Each horse was measured for shoulder height,and we took measurments for the shoulder angle. Each horse trotted over the smooth area three times each, and the average stride length from the 3 trials was recorded. Results The horses with the largest shoulder heights on average had the biggest stride length. However, the horses with the biggest stride length also had the smaller angles. Conclusions/Discussion We accept half of our hypothesis and we reject half of our hypothesis. We accept the half of our hypothesis that stated horses with larger shoulder height will have a longer stride length, and we reject the half of our hypothesis that says horses with bigger shoulder angles will have the longer strides. Perhaps this is because since a smaller angle would be more parallell to the ground, it would allow it to move more freely.

Competition history

• CSEF 2010 Zoology · Entry J2401

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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