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They Shoot Horses...

AgResearch equine scientist Dr Warren Hunt spends a lot of time videoing horses, but he's not making movies. Instead, he's using the latest image analysis techniques to accurately measure various aspects of size and conformation in individual horses.

AgResearch has developed the sophisticated system to provide objective measurements of growth and development. The computerised videos provide calculations of the lengths and angles of limbs and specific bones, to produce data on horse conformation.

"It produces very accurate skeletal dimensions in a non-invasive way, which gives an idea of the growth patterns of horses over time. It enables comparisons to be made on skeletal development between horses in an objective way," Hunt says.

Human assessment of conformation is subjective and, while it is a proficient tool for evaluating the good and poor points in individual horses, it has not been developed for the objective evaluation of groups of animals for research. Horses are such individuals that even simple weight measurements being used in the studies of bone growth don't provide enough information.

"They might be tall and lean, or short and fat, and so weight measurements don't tell us anything of the size and shape, or the linear dimensions of the animal."

The data show clearly how bones of the lower legs stop growing at an early stage relative to other bones, and consequently the young horse grows longer at a faster rate than it grows higher. The group developed a "studio foal crush" which has a clear perspex wall through which images can be recorded against a white background. White paper stickers marked the location of the bones to be imaged, so that lengths and angles could be measured. The accuracy in measuring bone angles in the legs is particularly important in racehorse breeding. Hunt has found this method doesn't stress the horses and they actually enjoy the attention; the younger horses eagerly push over each other to get into the crush.

Hunt is hoping the image analysis system can be developed further, but at this stage it's being used in joint AgResearch/Massey University equine trials, looking at the growth and development of foals on different pasture treatments and feed types and with different copper treatments.