From the Hatching of a Chicken to the Spanish Riding School - An Analysis of the Movement of Animals

Sotonyi, Peter Tamas

By studying the body structure and movement of the chicken embryo or that of the two domestic animals closest to man, the horse and the dog, we may obtain an answer to how the chicken can break free from its egg with the help of a muscle especially developed for the time of hatching. Or to how the foal is capable of coordinated, complex movement combinations right after birth as a result of the myelinization process taking place at various times in the nervous system of animals
The body structure of a horse can be compared to a double console truss bridge. This special static system enables it to sleep while standing. Its limb bones are resistant to gigantic pressure, its sinews to enormous pulling forces.
The portrayal of the movement of the horse in art history is also interesting. Bertalan Székely was one of the first who contributed to the study of movement with his series of drawings.

Today, the most state-of-the-art technology is used in the three-dimensional kinematic analysis of the movement of horses and dogs to carry out an objective analysis of the various locomotive disorders which can provide important supplementary information to clinical diagnostics.

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