Jumping Model Of A Jumping Horse
Jumping Model
While approaching a jump, the horse gathers energy in preparation for the coming effort. He rounds his back to bring his hind legs farther underneath his body with every stride. This creates more impulsion (energy) and suspension in his gait. During the last few strides, the horse shifts his balance backward, concentrating the power in his hindquarters. The horse compresses the final stride before takeoff by several feet. By doing so, he decelerates his body that he is transferring his forward momentum into energy for the vertical push-off. The energy stored in his muscles, tendons and ligaments stretches in such pattern that his front fetlocks sink almost to the ground and the hind legs furnish the main power on takeoff. During …show more content…
The most important are the triceps muscle, located behind and above the elbow, which straightens the elbow joint (this is the same muscle on the back of your arm), and the muscles that rotate the top of the shoulder blade forward. As the horse’s front legs are pushing off, his back is flexing like a bow (particularly the lumbosacral joint, which connects the loin to the croup), allowing his hind legs to sweep forward under the body. Unlike the front legs, the hind legs unite during this phase of the stride so they hop forward onto the ground simultaneously. The hindquarters then go through a similar compression process, crouching low to the ground to coil maximum energy. In general, the deeper the horse flexes his hind legs during this support phase. Over a very big jump, his hocks lower so much that the cannon bones in his hind legs are parallel to the ground. The angle at which the hind legs push the body at this point varies from horse to horse, depending on conformation and the size of the jump.
The gluteal (croup) muscles and hamstring group (biceps femoris, semitendinosus and semimembranosus) are the powerhouses creating this propulsion. the biceps femoris muscles, which run down the backs of the hind legs, originating at the pelvis and attaching across the stifle joints, do the majority of the work in straightening the hind legs. To add thrust to the push-off, the horse also now straightens his
While approaching a jump, the horse gathers energy in preparation for the coming effort. He rounds his back to bring his hind legs farther underneath his body with every stride. This creates more impulsion (energy) and suspension in his gait. During the last few strides, the horse shifts his balance backward, concentrating the power in his hindquarters. The horse compresses the final stride before takeoff by several feet. By doing so, he decelerates his body that he is transferring his forward momentum into energy for the vertical push-off. The energy stored in his muscles, tendons and ligaments stretches in such pattern that his front fetlocks sink almost to the ground and the hind legs furnish the main power on takeoff. During …show more content…
The most important are the triceps muscle, located behind and above the elbow, which straightens the elbow joint (this is the same muscle on the back of your arm), and the muscles that rotate the top of the shoulder blade forward. As the horse’s front legs are pushing off, his back is flexing like a bow (particularly the lumbosacral joint, which connects the loin to the croup), allowing his hind legs to sweep forward under the body. Unlike the front legs, the hind legs unite during this phase of the stride so they hop forward onto the ground simultaneously. The hindquarters then go through a similar compression process, crouching low to the ground to coil maximum energy. In general, the deeper the horse flexes his hind legs during this support phase. Over a very big jump, his hocks lower so much that the cannon bones in his hind legs are parallel to the ground. The angle at which the hind legs push the body at this point varies from horse to horse, depending on conformation and the size of the jump.
The gluteal (croup) muscles and hamstring group (biceps femoris, semitendinosus and semimembranosus) are the powerhouses creating this propulsion. the biceps femoris muscles, which run down the backs of the hind legs, originating at the pelvis and attaching across the stifle joints, do the majority of the work in straightening the hind legs. To add thrust to the push-off, the horse also now straightens his