Nixon Equine "Equinalysis" Gait Analysis
Equinalysis is a software package for ‘in field’ video capture and gait analysis. It was developed by the Great Britain Eventing Team farrier Haydn Price, in conjunction with Mark Johnson, a human sports biomechanist and has only been commercially available since the end of 2003.
A number of markers are placed on the horse at specific locations. These provide reference points from which measurements relating to the horse’s gait can be made. The horse is videoed at a halt, at walk and at trot from in front, behind, and from both left and right sides.
Nixon Equine Veterinary Practice has been using this equipment since October 2004. We initially started by assessing ‘normal’ horses, perceived by their owners to be sound in action and performing to the best of their ability, and by their farriers to have well balanced feet. This enabled us to gain experience with the full range of diagnostic modalities this system provides in addition to providing an invaluable base-line data base of cases to refer to. We are now offering Equinalysis as an adjunct to performance assessment in horses who are under-achieving and as a means to quantifying response to treatment which invariably requires farrier cooperation.
