The United States Eventing Association (USEA) Safety Committee is seeking the help of eventing riders for a research study into improve safety on cross country courses.
Taking place at the University of Kentucky, the USEA are gathering the sizes and weights of both horses and riders which will be used to create computer models to analyse their motion and learn how to reduce and prevent rotational falls.
Open to all levels of event rider, willing participants require a soft measuring tape of at least 250cm in length plus a horse height measuring stick to obtain a range of measurements which are diagrammed on the survey. Any information provided will be useful to the survey and unknown data can be skipped and the rest of the survey completed.
The team at the University of Kentucky is led by Dr. Suzanne Weaver Smith who explains in the USEA article
“To understand and take into account the variability of the many conditions and situations that lead to rotational falls, we will use a Monte Carlo simulation similar to those used in weather forecasting. The computer models developed will enable us to consider thousands of different combinations quickly. Our goal is to understand this complex motion thoroughly, and thus how to best prevent the conversion of forward momentum into a rotational fall for various fences. The model incorporates approach speed and direction, contact force and duration, horse and rider weight and size, among others. Our progress to date has been to bring together the best information available on each aspect of the motion.
Unfortunately, one of the key pieces - horse size and shape – has very little information available from previous studies. We decided to ask the eventing community for help with a “citizen science” survey that requests a few measurements of eventing horse size, weight, and rider height/weight. This survey aims to help us understand the sizes and weights of Eventing horses and riders to use realistic information in our study of collapsible and deformable fences to improve safety. We ask that you please safely take the measurements of the horse as pictured in the survey. We suggest a soft measuring tape at least 7’ in length (one that is used to measure jump heights or lines may be handy) and a horse height measuring stick; a second person is helpful, but not required”
More information on the survey can be found HERE with a link to the survey HERE
