Horse Back Training Mat with Slits for Load Distribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing horse training methods, such as running in shallow water or pulling a sleigh, often alter a horse's running attitude and muscular equilibrium, and simply increasing muscle power may not effectively enhance a trotting-horse's speed and endurance.
Innovation Solution
A device made from a heavy, sheet-like material, such as hard rubber, designed to be placed on a horse's back with adjustable cuts and attachment belts, providing a flexible yet strong additional load that mimics the horse's natural back shape, allowing normal running without disrupting coordination or equilibrium.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a horse pulls a sleigh to increase training resistance, then muscle power is improved, but the horse's running attitude and coordination are altered
Solution Approach 1:
The training device segments the load application by placing weights only on the horse's back rather than having the horse pull external objects. This segmentation maintains the horse's natural running posture and coordination while still providing resistance training through the added weight on the back.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having the horse pull resistance from the front (sleigh pulling), the resistance is inverted and placed on the horse's back. This reversal of the resistance application point allows the horse to maintain its natural running attitude while still receiving strength training.
2Strength
If weights are added to increase training load, then muscle strength is improved, but the horse's natural running posture is disrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The device applies weight locally on the horse's back in a distributed manner rather than concentrating it in one spot. The sheet-like material with cuts allows the weight to be distributed across the back surface, matching the natural curvature and providing strength training without disrupting the horse's running posture.
Solution Approach 2:
The sheet-like training device is designed with cuts that allow it to conform to the curved surface of the horse's back. This curvature adaptation ensures the weight follows the horse's natural back shape during movement, maintaining proper running posture while providing the necessary load for strength training.
3Weight of moving object
If a rigid weight structure is used, then loading capacity is sufficient, but adaptability to the horse's back shape is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The training device uses a flexible sheet-like material with cuts that allows it to adapt to the horse's back shape while still providing sufficient weight. The flexibility of the thin film material enables contour adaptation, whereas a rigid structure would not conform to the curved surface of the horse's back.
Solution Approach 2:
The device incorporates dynamic flexibility through its sheet-like construction with cuts, allowing it to move and adapt with the horse's back during running motion. This dynamic adaptability ensures the weight structure maintains contact and proper positioning throughout the exercise, unlike a static rigid structure.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
Device for increasing the training effect in a horse, consisting of essentially a sheet of mat-like material (1) adapting to and attachable to the horse's back. The mat-like sheet (1) is, over a substantial area, equipped with slits (9) going through the mat, in order to improve flexibility, and also of cuts (3, 4) that take up a position in essentially the area of the highest point of the horse's rear scapulae, which permits the overlapping of the parts of the mat remaining on different sides of the cut (3, 4).