Probably the foremost biomechanics researcher in the country, Hilary Clayton, BVMS, PhD, MRCVS, McPhail Dressage Chair in Equine Sports Medicine, McPhail Equine Performance Center, discussed recent lower limb research during the 16th annual Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium. Some of the studies she described were performed in collaboration with researchers at California State Polytechnic University.

“We use a motion analysis system to illustrate movement of different body parts and joint angles,” she began. “We also calculate a lot of things we can’t actually measure.” She initially focused on kinematics (motion) of the fore and hind limbs. “The maximum velocity of the horse’s hoof is about double that of the horse’s maximum velocity,” she noted. “So for a horse that’s running at about 40 mph, the maximal speed of the hoof as it swings forward is about 80 mph…That’s pretty darn fast