Spatial variation of the physical and biomechanical properties within an equestrian arena surface

Northrop, AJ ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4339-1211, Hobbs, SJ, Holt, D, Clayton-Smith, E and Martin, JH ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7560-7611, 2016. Spatial variation of the physical and biomechanical properties within an equestrian arena surface. Procedia Engineering, 147, pp. 866-871. ISSN 1877-7058

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Abstract

There is limited information about spatial variation of equestrian arena surfaces despite unequivocal evidence to suggest that lack of uniformity increases risk of injury. Spatial differences in the functional properties of an arena are likely to be due to a number of intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics including variation in the physical properties of the surface. The aim of this work was to examine spatial variation of peak load (cushioning) across an arena surface and investigate the influence that physical properties had on these variations using Principal Component Analysis. Sampling (n=61) of a 20 m by 65 m indoor synthetic equestrian arena surface occurred in one day using an Orono biomechanical surface tester (OBST). The OBST was used at every location to measure peak load (dropped twice on the same point). A 200 g sample of the surface was taken from the point of impact (at every location) and the physical properties were assessed in the laboratory. Samples were oven dried at 45ͼ C for 24 hours in order to measure moisture content and percentage binder was quantified using Soxhlet extraction. Sand particle size distribution were determined using sieving and sedimentation methods and percentage organic matter was achieved by burning off organic material using a muffle furnace at 440ͼ C. The surface was characterized by three principal components (PC1, PC2 and PC3). Peak load and moisture were the first principal components that accounted for 41% of surface variation. Percentage organic matter and percentage binder were identified as PC2 (20%) and PC3 (18%) respectively. This highlights their respective importance in surface variation. There was a moderate negative correlation between moisture and peak load (rs = 54%; P<0.0001) however cluster analysis revealed that peak load and moisture were grouped into five areas of similarity that corresponded to sample location, reinforced using an ANOVA (P<0.0001). The findings demonstrate an effective method of assessing uniformity and additionally, identify physical factors relevant to the load carrying capacity of this specific surface. Uneven surfaces can influence horse and rider safety therefore recognizing appropriate techniques to monitor spatial variation and implement relevant maintenance, is of key importance to equestrian athletes.

Item Type:	Journal article
Alternative Title:	In issue: The Engineering of SPORT 11. 11th Conference of the International Sports Engineering Association, ISEA 2016.
Publication Title:	Procedia Engineering
Creators:	Northrop, A.J., Hobbs, S.J., Holt, D., Clayton-Smith, E. and Martin, J.H.
Publisher:	Elsevier
Date:	9 July 2016
Volume:	147
ISSN:	1877-7058
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1016/j.proeng.2016.06.288 DOI S1877705816307354 Publisher Item Identifier
Rights:	© 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Divisions:	Schools > School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences
Record created by:	Jill Tomkinson
Date Added:	09 Mar 2018 15:11
Last Modified:	31 Aug 2018 13:14
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/32899

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