Experiment 1: Shoulder Angle & Stride Length
This is a real experiment completed for a school science fair. It's shared here — not as something to copy — but as a complete example of how a horse science experiment is structured and written up. Use it as a model for your own project.
Does a Horse's Shoulder Angle Affect Its Stride Length?
A completed science fair experiment — 5 horses and ponies, 3 trials
If a horse or pony has a smaller shoulder angle, then it will have a longer stride.
To find out whether a horse's shoulder angle — or its height — has more influence on its stride length. This could be useful for anyone buying, selling, riding, or jumping a horse, and for estimating a horse's natural stride length.
Does the shoulder angle or the height of a horse affect its stride?
The controls in this experiment were kept the same across every trial: the distance measured, the poles used, the rider, the tack, the protractor, the method for measuring shoulder angle, the location, and the camera and printer.
Dependent variable: the horse's or pony's stride length.
Independent variables: the time of day, the day, the weather, the horse's attitude, which horse or pony was being tested, shoulder angle, and height.
- A protractor
- A digital camera and printer
- A marker and ruler
- A tape measure
- 2 poles
- 5 horses and/or ponies
- Saddle, bridle, girth, and saddle pad
- A rider
- Have the horse or pony stand square and measure its height.
- Take a photo of the horse or pony standing square and print it out.
- On the printed photo, draw a line to the point of shoulder with a marker.
- Draw a second line across the horse's body to create an angle.
- Use the protractor to measure the shoulder angle from these lines.
- Measure a distance of 12 feet (for horses) or 6 feet (for ponies) and place a pole at each end.
- Have the horse or pony canter the distance with a rider, counting the strides taken.
- Record the results immediately after each run.
The three tables below show the recorded stride data for each horse and pony across all three trials.
Trial 1 agreed with the hypothesis. All horses and ponies reached the correct number of strides for their shoulder angle.
Trial 2 mostly agreed with the hypothesis. Most subjects reached the expected number of strides.
Trial 3 did not agree with the hypothesis. Three of the five horses and ponies were outside the expected stride range.
Overall, the hypothesis was supported across the three trials.
The experiment showed that a horse's height does not determine its stride length. Instead, the larger the shoulder angle, the shorter the stride — which supports the original hypothesis.
Trials 1 and 2 supported the hypothesis clearly. Trial 3 showed some variation, which could be explained by variables outside our control.
Variables that may have affected the results include the weight of the rider, the tack used, the time of day, weather conditions, the horse's energy level, the rider's position, and the number of trials per session.
For future improvement: use more horses and ponies, test with riders of different weights and experience levels, run trials on different days, and consider limiting to one trial per day to reduce fatigue as a variable.
The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether a horse's shoulder angle or its height has a greater influence on stride length. Five horses and ponies were tested across three trials.
The hypothesis stated that a smaller shoulder angle would result in a longer stride. Trials 1 and 2 supported this hypothesis, with subjects achieving the expected number of strides for their shoulder angle. Trial 3 partially disagreed — three subjects fell outside the expected range.
Overall, the hypothesis was supported. The experiment demonstrated that height does not significantly affect stride, while shoulder angle does — specifically, a larger shoulder angle corresponds to a shorter stride length.
Controls included: distance measured, poles, rider, tack, protractor, measurement method, location, and camera. The dependent variable was stride length. Independent variables included time of day, day, weather, the subject's attitude, shoulder angle, and height.
Understanding how shoulder angle relates to stride could be useful when buying or selling a horse, planning jumping distances, or estimating a horse's natural stride length for training purposes.
