Stride length calculation?

[Psychotic Parakeet]

Is there a way to actually calculate a horse's average stride length (measured in feet)? I found a used version of Carroll's book "Handicapping Speed" on Amazon.com (all thanks to someone's suggestion here), and it has made me interested in exploring a bit more of the scientific aspect of the sport. Thank you for any help or direction.

[PICSIX]

The following company has measured stride/gait for years....I don't know if they give away their techniques for doing so or not.

http://www.eqb.com/

Gait analysis video from their site:

http://www.eqb.com/gaitanalysis.html

[bobphilo]

Is there a way to actually calculate a horse's average stride length (measured in feet)? I found a used version of Carroll's book "Handicapping Speed" on Amazon.com (all thanks to someone's suggestion here), and it has made me interested in exploring a bit more of the scientific aspect of the sport. Thank you for any help or direction.

Stride length alone is not a relevant factor in assessing a horse's performance or ability unless one combines it with the frequency of a horses stride. If one combines the 2 you get a horse's speed which is better and more easily described by a horse's time and speed figure adjusted by a variant. In his excellent book Carroll goes into detail of the mechanics of a running horse but puts it all together with speed figures adjusted for track speed being the ultimate determinate of equine performance.

[pandy]

If you subscribe to DRF PLUS you get access to the Breezefigs, which are essentially speed ratings for two year olds who breezed at the sales. But besides the fig, they also give you each horse's stride. Generally speaking, horses with longer strides and good breezefigs win more often first or second time out than horses with shorter strides. You can keep these records so that as the horses develop you can use the stride length to spot horses that should be good stretching out.

[bobphilo]

Stride length alone is not a relevant factor in assessing a horse's performance or ability unless one combines it with the frequency of a horses stride. If one combines the 2 you get a horse's speed which is better and more easily described by a horse's time and speed figure adjusted by a variant. In his excellent book Carroll goes into detail of the mechanics of a running horse but puts it all together with speed figures adjusted for track speed being the ultimate determinate of equine performance.
Upon further consideration, stride length may be an indicator of a horse's ability to stretch out beyond their speed figures. I would like to see a study that confirms this plausible hypothesis.
Another possible use of stride length may be an sign of improvement when a long striding horse, such as Easy Goer turns the tables on a Triple Crown rival such as Sunday Silence in the Belmont, a big track with wide sweeping turns that favor long striding horses. Conversely, shorter striding horses have an advantage on smaller 1 mile tracks.

[DJofSD]

And then there is this: http://www.somaxsports.com/photo.php?analysis=SecretariatSA

A pure non-smart ass answer would be to count the number of strides taken over a fixed known distance then do the math.

[pandy]

I don't know how the Breezefigs guys calculate stride length, but they have par (average) stride lengths and they have statistical evidence that horses with longer than average stride lengths (based on their two year old breezes at the sales) perform better.

http://www.biodatatrack.com/breeze-figs.html

Sometimes you can spot horses with big or short stride lengths just by watching them run if you have a good eye for it. Sprinters tend to have more of a short, piston-like stride and when you see that, you know that they are not likely to be a good long distance horse. But it's better to have the actual stride lengths.

I followed Breezefigs for several years and there's no doubt in my mind that horses with longer stride lengths are more successful based on the results I saw.

[bobphilo]

I have also noticed that horses that do better on grass tend to have longer stride lengths than most dirt horses, which is not surprising since horses have evolved to run on grass which offers better traction than dirt and allows horses to exert a longer more powerful stride with less slippage. Many of these horses often just spin their wheels on dirt.

Of course, some horses are able to adjust their stride length to the surface they are running on and are good on both grass and dirt. Something I learned to do when training on different surfaces in my college track days.

[Capper Al]

Is there a way to actually calculate a horse's average stride length (measured in feet)? I found a used version of Carroll's book "Handicapping Speed" on Amazon.com (all thanks to someone's suggestion here), and it has made me interested in exploring a bit more of the scientific aspect of the sport. Thank you for any help or direction.

I'm not familiar with stride length. Of course, i know what a stride is. Are you correlating it to beaten lengths?

[bobphilo]

I'm not familiar with stride length. Of course, i know what a stride is. Are you correlating it to beaten lengths?
Stride length is defined by how much ground a horse covers in each stride cycle.
Not the same as lengths which are defined as the distance between a horses nose and the start of their tail - about 8 feet. Beaten lengths reflect how many lengths between one horse's nose and another's, usually the winner. Stride length is unrelated to beaten lengths. The 2 terms are referring to different measures of distance.

[PICSIX]

"When Bolt established the current 100-meter world record in the 2009 world championships, running it in 9.58 seconds, he did so by moving his legs at virtually the same pace as his competitors. In fact, if you or I were to compete against Bolt, our legs would turn over at essentially the same rate as his....

Think of the legs as springs. The more force they can push against the ground, the further they can propel the body forward, thus maximizing the output of each individual step. In a full sprint, the average person applies about 500 to 600 pounds of force. An Olympic sprinter can apply more than 1,000 pounds.

But force isn't the only factor. How quickly that force is applied factors in as well."


http://www.thepostgame.com/features/201107/usain-bolt-case-study-science-sprinting

[Cratos]

"When Bolt established the current 100-meter world record in the 2009 world championships, running it in 9.58 seconds, he did so by moving his legs at virtually the same pace as his competitors. In fact, if you or I were to compete against Bolt, our legs would turn over at essentially the same rate as his....

Think of the legs as springs. The more force they can push against the ground, the further they can propel the body forward, thus maximizing the output of each individual step. In a full sprint, the average person applies about 500 to 600 pounds of force. An Olympic sprinter can apply more than 1,000 pounds.

But force isn't the only factor. How quickly that force is applied factors in as well."

http://www.thepostgame.com/features/201107/usain-bolt-case-study-science-sprinting

You are absolutely correct, the stride rate (how quickly that force is applied) must be a consideration, but from a understanding of how objects move, force is paramount because force a function of both velocity and mass.

[PIC6SIX]

This thread and the EQB data is truly amazing. Very very interesting regarding the physics involved in evaluating 2 yos at auction. However, I do not know how one goes about gathering and using this data in handicapping 2yos since the DRF and Brisnet PPs / form is very limited in its data available to the general public.

[pandy]

If you subscribe to DRF PLUS you get the Brisfigs and stride lengths for the two year olds at the sales they cover.