many ways, depending on its location and severity. Since it is common for horses to suffer pain from sources that are relatively trouble free in other spe- cies (e.g., colic) the observer must be familiar with normal behavior for the particular species. This information has been available for many years and has been the subject of books. Why has equine pain received so much attention and research? Does the horse experi- ence more pain than, for example, the cow, or does the horse have a lower pain threshold? Perhaps we are more concerned with pain control in the horse because self-inflicted damage fre- quently occurs during the violent ex- pression of pain. WEJ

Development of Equine Locomotion from Foal to Adult (1994); by Willem Back; Published by the author at Utrecht University, The Netherlands; paper- back, 215 pages.

"Man domesticated Equus to ben- efit from the capabilities of its locomo- tor apparatus," writes Back in the in- troduction of this book, which is essen- tially a compilation of his studies of equine locomotion.

"Several types of horses were pro- duced. Heavy draught horses were se- lected to haul heavy armours, whereas slender, faster horses-- the Thorough-

A N N O U N C E M E N T

The Japanese Joumal of Equine Science and the Bulletin of Equine Re- search Institute have combined and are now known as the Journal of Equine Science (JES). The publication sched- ule is quarterly and of standard size.

The publishers, The Japanese Society of Equine Science (founded in 1990) invite contributions to this new journal.

Journal of Equine Science,c/o De- partmentof VeterinaryAnatomy,Faculty of Agriculture, The University of Tokyo, Yoyoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113, Japan. FAX +81-3-5800-6896

breds-- were selected for their speed and endurance. The invention of the steam engine at the end of the 18th century marked the beginning of the industrial revolution and the decline of the horse's importance as a source of power. It took one-and-a-half centuries before the horse was definitively beaten as an essential element of warfare, ag- riculture and civil transport, for it was after World War II that the number of horses markedly declined. With the mechanization of farms, horses were replaced by tractors, and it may even be symbolic that mechanical power until very recently was expressed as Horse Power. However, in the 1960s the horse regained popularity, particularly for tiding purposes in sport and leisure, a development favored by the growing economies and relative wealth of the post-war era. From that time horse breeders primarily produced perfor- mance horses that have an elegant gait and efficient jumping technique. These horses are referred to as Warmbloods, and are used in dressage and jumping competitions. Today's sport horses are reckoned 'equine athletes' which again emphasizes the importance of the equine locomotor apparatus for the horse in- dustry."

The author goes on to explain the purpose of his studies and this book: "Those who judge and select horses, mainly use emperical information based on the ontogeny of the horse' s confor- mation and locomotion, but selection is essentially subjective. The selection process begins when horses are young and a primary criterion is superior gate, because it is assumed that good gait quality is a prerequisite for future per- formance in competitive dressage and jumping events. Thus, foal and adult locomotion should be closely related; something which has not been proven so far. The only study in this respect has been carried out by Drevemo who found that asymmetry in stride variables of young Standardbreds increased be- tween 8 and 18 months of age. Another

important criterion for selection of sport horses, apart from elegance and effi- ciency of gait, should be a low risk for developing lamenesses."

The purpose of Back's study, and the book, was to empirically measure the development of locomotion in warmblood horses from foal to young adulthood. Kinematic variables should lay the scientific foundation of subjec- tive criteria used to select warmbloods at a young age, according to the author.

Chapters 2, 4, and 5 describe the normal movement of the fore and hind limbs during a complete stride on a treadmill in trotting warmbloods at foal and adult age. Chapter 3 evaluates the maturation of the kinematic variables and the influence of growth on the intralimb coordination pattern at foal and adult age. Chapter 6 focuses on the differences in kinematics between dis- tal fore and hind limbs. Chapter 7 cor- relates kinematic variables to judged variables using a generally-accepted linear score to establish objective crite- ria for the selection of horses with a superior gait. Chapter 8 investigates whether the intralimb kinematics of young riding horses are influenced by a 70-day training period. Chapter 9 ad- dresses the main objective of the study: the predictive value of foal kinematics for adult locomotor performance. Con- clusions from this study illustrate why selective procedures from the past have been successful in producing perfor- mance horses for today's competition.

WEJ

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