Curvas ângulo-tempo das articulações dos eqüinos marchadores / Joint angle-time curves of Brazilian gaited horses

Gráficos com demonstração das curvas ângulo-tempo das articulações dos membros dos eqüinos foram avaliados por meio da análise de imagens digitalizadas tomadas de 10 cavalos e 13 éguas da raça Mangalarga Marchador. Foram utilizados marcadores reflexivos adesivos colocados em 19 pontos articulares dos eqüinos, procedendo-se à filmagem com freqüência de 250 quadros por segundo e utilizando-se o aplicativo Simi-motion 3D 6.0 para digitalização e análise das imagens. A utilização dos marcadores reflexivos adesivos constituiu boa metodologia para análise dos movimentos dos segmentos ósseos dos eqüinos. Os resultados observados indicam haver, durante a locomoção dos eqüinos marchadores brasileiros, comportamento similar das articulações quando comparados com eqüinos de sela europeus, apresentando mesmo padrão das curvas de ângulo-tempo e não havendo grandes diferenças entre os pontos máximos de flexão e extensão.

Images of 10 horses and 13 mares of Mangalarga Marchador breed were taken and digitalized to analyze the joint angle-time curves. Reflexives and adhesives markers were glued on 19 articulations points of the hindlimbs and forelimbs of the horses. The images were taken at 250 frames per second and the digitalization and analysis were made using a Simi-motion 3D 6.0 software. The results demonstrated that the methodology using reflexives and adhesives markers was efficient to make analyses of the bone segment movements of the horses. This study concluded that the Brazilian gaited horses have a similar angle-joint curve as the European warmblood horses and there are no great differences of the maximum extension and flexion points.

Caracterização demográfica da raça Mangalarga Marchador / Demographic characterization of Mangalarga Marchador breed

Data from the Brazilian Mangalarga Marchador Breed Association, including information on 292,012 animals borned from 1949 to 2000 were used to describe population structure. Frequency tables, central tendency and variation measurements according to owner, breeder, type of registration (known and unknown pedigree), year and month of births, progeny number for stallions and mares were presented. A total of 72.6 percent of the animals originated from the Southeast States of Brazil. The maximum number of birth (6.7 percent) was observed in 1990 and approximately 90.0 percent of the births occurred from September to March. Concerning progeny numbers, 73.6 percent of the 90,018 mares produced an average of 3.8 and a maximum of 22 offsprings. For the stallions these numbers were 26.2 and 1,322, respectively. The average generation interval was 8.9 years.