The Physics of Horse Jumping

By Hanna Mendola

Horse Force???

When jumping, a horse’s force depends on their back legs and the speed they are going at. Lets say a horse was walking and it tried to go over a 5 foot tree stump. Could you do that??? NOPE!!! Think logic.

Would Bigger or Smaller Horses Be Better?

Bigger of course! The bigger horse has more force in its back legs that that little pony. Sorry, but no matter how tiny and cute those ponies are, they just won’t do.

Newton’s Second Law

When a horse is jumping, it relies to Newton's Second Law, due to it’s mass. For more info, check out slide #2

Balance…

When jumping, a rider gets into a standing position called 2-point to balance the weight, as you see in this picture.

When the rider leans forward, the weight is balanced so the horse doesn't have to carry its self and the rider.

Speed!

As I mentioned in the second slide, speed matters. If a horse was traveling at a canter (like a really fast run for humans) the horse would have more force and jump higher. If the horse was trotting, (jogging) it would probably step over it instead of jump whatever it was trying to jump.

We got the basics,

Who’s up to a review???

When a horse is trying to go over a 5 foot jump, which gait would be better?

A. WALK B. TROT C. CANTER

True or falseWhen going over a jump you sit in the saddle.

True or falseHorses use their back legs to propel themselves over a jump.

Answers

Q # 1 C. CanterWhen a horse is going over a jump it has

more force by using more speedQ # 2 FalseThe balance will go away, and you and

the horse will be on the ground in no time!

Q # 3 TrueA horse’s force depends on it’s back

legs

Okay… Back to the Point

When I preformed my experiment, I jumped three horses! The first one, the biggest, Lincoln, he jumped the highest because of his mass. The next one was Gracie, a larger pony, and she skidded over the jump. The last horse was Bruce, the fastest, a bit smaller than Lincoln, (he is pure thoroughbred).

He jumped it very well. Not to high, not to low. YAY!

Data…The horse probably started out fast, then stumbled and went

VERY slow at the end.

Acceleration Trial 1

-6

-4-2

02

4

68

10

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Time

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Series1

Data…The horse probably went slow until it saw the jump, decided to go

fast, and then slowed when it went over the jump.

accleration 2

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 2 3 4 5

time

accl

erat

ion

Series1

Data…When the horse jumped, it’s speed probably decreased

when it jumped the jump, then it sped up again.

Accleration Trial 3

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Time

Acc

eler

atio

n

Series1

Resources…

• http://clackhi.nclack.k12.or.us/physics/projects/Final%20Project-2005/6-Final%20Project/HorseJump/index.html

• http://www.civiced-ri.org/physite/lizhorse/index.htm

• Thanks to Chastain Horse Park, Serenbe Stables, And a BIG shout out to my Riding instructor, Marilyn. Thanks for the help!