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Author |
Wilson, A.M.; McGuigan, M.P.; Su, A.; van Den Bogert, A.J. |
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Title |
Horses damp the spring in their step |
Type  |
Journal Article |
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Year |
2001 |
Publication |
Nature |
Abbreviated Journal |
Nature |
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Volume |
414 |
Issue |
6866 |
Pages |
895-899 |
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Keywords |
Animals; Biomechanics; Elasticity; Forelimb; Gait; Horses/anatomy & histology/*physiology; Leg Bones/*physiology; Locomotion; Models, Biological; Muscle Fibers/physiology; Muscle, Skeletal/anatomy & histology/*physiology; Tendons/anatomy & histology/*physiology; Vibration |
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Abstract |
The muscular work of galloping in horses is halved by storing and returning elastic strain energy in spring-like muscle-tendon units.These make the legs act like a child's pogo stick that is tuned to stretch and recoil at 2.5 strides per second. This mechanism is optimized by unique musculoskeletal adaptations: the digital flexor muscles have extremely short fibres and significant passive properties, whereas the tendons are very long and span several joints. Length change occurs by a stretching of the spring-like digital flexor tendons rather than through energetically expensive length changes in the muscle. Despite being apparently redundant for such a mechanism, the muscle fibres in the digital flexors are well developed. Here we show that the mechanical arrangement of the elastic leg permits it to vibrate at a higher frequency of 30-40 Hz that could cause fatigue damage to tendon and bone. Furthermore, we show that the digital flexor muscles have minimal ability to contribute to or regulate significantly the 2.5-Hz cycle of movement, but are ideally arranged to damp these high-frequency oscillations in the limb. |
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Address |
Department of Veterinary Basic Sciences, The Royal Veterinary College, Hatfield, Herts AL9 7TA, UK. awilson@rvc.ac.uk |
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Language |
English |
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ISSN |
0028-0836 |
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Notes |
PMID:11780059 |
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no |
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Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2300 |
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