Affect of the jockey on racehorse performance is topic for exciting new study

 Andrew Spence, an RCUK Academic Research Fellow in Biomechanics, who specialises in animal locomotion, first became interested in the performance of racehorses when he joined a Horserace Betting Levy Board funded study to measure the effect of different types of surface on the performance of racehorses. Andrew is part of the Structure and Motion Laboratory at the RVC, which focuses on animal locomotion. (http://www.rvc.ac.uk/sml)

Andrew is now collaborating with Richard Perham, Jockey Coach at the British Racing School, for the new project. The study is using several apprentice jockeys who are on a continuation course at the School.

The study's aim is to prove that there are scientific jockey-oriented factors that can affect the performance of the racehorse; eventually the study intends to be able to quantify these positive and negative factors.

The first area that is being explored is the effect of jockey movement on the horse. The study wants to prove that minimal movement by the jockey means that less energy is used by the horse, therefore heightening the potential performance of the horse during a race. To measure the impact of the jockey, data is being collected from scientific experiments on the gallops involving a small number of the School's students and the resident horses.

Jockey movement is measured by sensors in the jockey's helmets which are linked up to a Global Positioning System. Data can then be collected on the movement of the jockey's head in three ways; vertical movement (how much a jockey moves their head up and down) horizontal movement (how much a jockey moves side to side) and forward and backwards movement. Another sensor is placed in a custom saddlecloth on the withers, so that the group can simultaneously measure the motions of the horse. Finally, sensors in the horse's hoofs gather data on how jockey movement is timed relative to the footfalls of the horse. The investigators have pioneered technology which allows the synchronization of the data from sensors on the horse with high speed video footage using the GPS signal. This allows them to better understand what the signals from the sensors on the jockey and horse mean, because they can view simultaneous video of the motion and the sensor data.

Richard Perham's experience is instrumental to the study; the accelerometer data can only be interpreted valuably if it is known whether the jockey being measured is riding well. The study works on a theory that suggests that mechanical isolation (or the ability of the jockey's body to act as a shock absorber) is what helps a horse to perform to its optimum. It is up to Richard Perham to interpret the video footage and assess if the jockey is riding in the best position to achieve minimum movement-and ultimately the state of optimum shock absorption.

However, the positive affect of mechanical isolation on the racehorse is yet to be proven and there are other theories. The study is also intending to measure the affect of aerodynamics on the performance of the racehorse, independently of any previous trials.

The ground breaking study is part of a new frontier in scientific developments for horseracing, whose findings could have huge implications in the future of jockey training and race riding.

Richard Perham comments 'It's great to be involved in this study with the Royal Veterinary College. The findings have the capacity to move jockey training forward to the next level, in line with other professional sports which put the deserved amount of emphasis on scientific technology and advances. Through this study, the British Racing School has the unrivalled opportunity to evolve the way race riding is taught to the next generation, and that's something to get excited about.'