Did you know that your CEEFIT by Seaver measures the cadence and bounce of your horse at work ? But what exactly do these terms mean? In this article, we give you the keys to understanding these two features and their relevance to your horse's daily work.

What is the cadence of my horse?

The cadence is the number of strides taken per minuteA stride is the set of movements between two successive poses of the same limb at a given pace. A stride is the set of movements between two successive poses of the same limb at a given pace. It is a sort of rhythm of the horse.

Changing the cadence means taking more or fewer strides in a given time. Having a A regular cadence allows the horse to balance and bounce in its gaits. This will allow the horse to engage better and therefore respond better to your demands.

The interest for the riders: working on the regularity of their horse

In order to evaluate the regularity of your horse, your CEEFIT gives you theevolution of the cadenceIn order to evaluate the regularity of your horse, your CEEFIT gives you the number of strides per minute during your session, distinguishing by colours the passages at each gait: blue for walk, orange for trot and green for canter.

Nous constatons que le cheval accélère légèrement son galop avant de repasser au trot, peut-être par opposition ou perte d’équilibre. Un phénomène à surveiller et à travailler s’il se produit systématiquement.

The average horse takes between 35 and 60 strides per minute at the walk, between 55 and 100 strides per minute at the trot and between 80 and 130 strides per minute at the canter. These are, of course, averages. Some horses may be above or below these ranges. For example, a trotter in full race may easily exceed 120 trotting strides per minute.

L’application vous donne également une indication de comparaison entre cette séance et la séance dernière.

Dans l’exemple ci-dessus, la régularité de la cadence au trot est parfaite. Cependant, le cheval a effectué 5 foulées de moins par minute au galop qu’à la séance précédente. Ce n’est pas énorme mais cela nous donne une indication. L’objectif de cette séance était de travailler le galop-pas, ce qui nous indique que la cavalière a eu tendance à freiner son cheval plutôt qu’à le rassembler (ce que l’on recherche lors du travail du galop pas). Ces informations donnent des axes d’amélioration pour les séances à suivre.

Namely:

Lateral and longitudinal tillage (lengthening, gathering) can reduce evenness, as well as a change of ground outdoors.

A few tips to apply:

When you take a class with your coach, it can be interesting to observe the cadence data obtained for a given pace or exercise. Then, when you are working on your own at home, the aim should be to find the same values.

Cadence data can also help you to validate extensions. To do this, you will need to check that the cadence does not vary much and does not increase during your lengthening, as is often the case for horses or riders in the early stages of learning.

Does my horse have a good bounce?

The rebound is theamplitude of your horse's vertical movement. It allows you to work on the verticality of the gaits: the more the gaits will have some bounce and the more your horse will be propelled upwards.

In order to evaluate your horse's bounce, we give you the evolution of the dorso-ventral displacement in centimetres, In order to evaluate your horse's bounce, we give you a list of the gaits during your session, distinguishing by colours the passages at each of the gaits: blue for the walk, orange for the trot and green for the canter. You will also find an average for walk, trot and canter.

A horse has an average bounce of between 1 and 5 cm at the walk, between 5 and 15 cm at the trot and between 10 and 25 cm at the canter. Again, these are averages. Variations in bounce may be observed depending on the breed, conformation or size of the horse. Some horses may have a bounce that is lower or higher than these values without worrying.

Il est bon de noter que si un cavalier de dressage va chercher à faire augmenter ces valeurs par le travail, d’autres disciplines requièrent un cheval “rasant” avec un rebond bas, comme par exemple l’endurance (afin de limiter la fatigue) ou le western pleasure.

Comparing the bounce in your different exercises is useful to understand what will help you improve it. It is important to remember that the Bounce tends to increase with work on floor bars or cavaletti..

Ci dessus, nous pouvons observer l’évolution du rebond lors de passage d’un cavaletti suivi d’une transition descendante barres au sol. Nous remarquons bien l’augmentation du rebond sur le cavaletti.

It's up to you now 😉

The Seaver Team