Becard Blandine, Sapone Marie, Martin Pauline, Hanne-Poujade Sandrine, Babu Alexa, Hébert Camille, Joly Philippe, Bertucci William, Houel Nicolas
LIM France, 24300 Nontron, France.
Laboratoire Performance, Santé, Métrologie, Société, Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne, UFR STAPS, 51100 Reims, France.
Sensors (Basel). 2025 Jul 30;25(15):4712. doi: 10.3390/s25154712.
The saddle's adaptability to the rider-horse pair's biomechanics is essential for equestrian comfort and performance. However, approaches to dynamic evaluation of saddle fitting are still limited in equestrian conditions. The purpose of this study is to propose a method of quantifying saddle adaptation to the rider-horse pair in motion. Eight rider-horse pairs were tested using four similar saddles with small modifications (seat depth, flap width, and front panel thickness). Seven inertial sensors were attached to the riders and horses to measure the active range of motion of the horses' forelimbs and hindlimbs, stride duration, active range of motion of the rider's pelvis, and rider-horse interaction. The results reveal that even small saddle changes affect the pair's biomechanics. Some saddle configurations limit the limbs' active range of motion, lengthen strides, or modify the rider's pelvic motion. The temporal offset between the movements of the horse and the rider changes depending on the saddle modifications. These findings support the effect of fine saddle changes on the locomotion and synchronization of the rider-horse pair. The use of inertial sensors can be a potential way for quantifying the influence of dynamic saddle fitting and optimizing saddle adaptability in stable conditions with saddle fitter constraints.
马鞍对骑手与马匹组合生物力学的适应性对于马术运动中的舒适度和表现至关重要。然而，在马术环境中，对马鞍适配进行动态评估的方法仍然有限。本研究的目的是提出一种量化运动中马鞍对骑手与马匹组合适应性的方法。使用四个经过微小改动（座深、侧翼宽度和前板厚度）的类似马鞍对八对骑手与马匹组合进行了测试。在骑手和马匹身上附着了七个惯性传感器，以测量马的前肢和后肢的活动范围、步幅持续时间、骑手骨盆的活动范围以及骑手与马的相互作用。结果表明，即使是马鞍的微小变化也会影响组合的生物力学。一些马鞍配置会限制肢体的活动范围、延长步幅或改变骑手骨盆的运动。马和骑手运动之间的时间偏移会根据马鞍的改动而变化。这些发现支持了马鞍的微小变化对骑手与马匹组合运动和同步性的影响。在有马鞍调整限制的稳定条件下，使用惯性传感器可能是量化动态马鞍适配影响并优化马鞍适应性的一种潜在方法。
