Accuracy and precision of hind limb foot contact timings of horses determined using a pelvis-mounted inertial measurement unit

Gait analysis using small sensor units is becoming increasingly popular in the clinical context. In order to segment continuous movement from a defined point of the stride cycle, knowledge about footfall timings is essential. We evaluated the accuracy and precision of foot contact timings of a defined limb determined using an inertial sensor mounted on the pelvis of ten horses during walk and trot at different speeds and in different directions. Foot contact was estimated from vertical velocity events occurring before maximum sensor roll towards the contralateral limb. Foot contact timings matched data from a synchronised hoof mounted accelerometer well when velocity minimum was used for walk (mean (SD) difference of 15 (18) ms across horses) and velocity zero-crossing for trot (mean (SD) difference from −4 (14) to 12 (7) ms depending on the condition). The stride segmentation method also remained robust when applied to movement data of hind limb lame horses. In future, this method may find application in segmenting overground sensor data of various species.