CONTACT INFORMATION: Jennifer Stoffer and Novel-Pliance USA

It would be greatly remiss of me to go on without acknowledging Jennifer Stoffer and Novel-Pliance and their efforts to assist us in our research and discovery. Here is contact information for themL

Jennifer Stoffer, DVM
Gaston, OR
503-522-5529
info@backinthesaddlesite.com

www.redhillsranch.org

www.backinthesaddlesite.com

novel electronics inc

Maria Pasquale, MS

964 Grand Avenue

Saint Paul, MN  55105

651-221-0505 (voice)

651-221-0404 (fax)

mariapasquale@novelusa.com

www.novelusa.com

Pressure Testing at Dr. Hilary Clayton's Lab at Michigan State University

MSU - AT LAST!

Visiting MSU was an amazing experience start to finish. It began as we drove toward the MacPhail Equine Research Facility early on the morning of April 5. The building’s façade and distinctive green roof were instantly familiar from  the group’s online presence and annual reports. I was traveling with RP’s Lisa Jordan, and before we’d even entered the building, we caught each other’s eye and grinned with delight. Some years ago the two of us took Dr. Hilary Clayton’s Equine Biomechanics class (offered through Equinology at the time) and our respect for Dr. Clayton’s intellect, commitment to the principles of research and stunning body of work was embedded in both of us during that course.

THE GOAL FOR THE DAY

We had arranged this trip in order to evaluate the Novel-Pliance sensor mat. This pad has the best reputation as a research tool – and the highest price tag – of any sensor pad on the market and we were eager to see if the result matched the build-up. We arranged to have one upper level  horse and rider, and two school horses present for the testing. All horses had their own saddles. During the course of the day we tested each horse’s saddle and then fit one or two ReactorPanel saddles to these same horses (and under the same riders). We hoped to learn as much as possible about the performance of RP relative to conventional saddles, and at the same time, to learn the capabilities of the pressure testing system so that we could see if the high cost is justified in our application. To help us in our testing, we had shipped a large box of saddles, panels, our special sorbothane rubber discs and a variety of fitting tools in advance.

THE NOW-USUAL DISCLAIMER

The following report is being made to the best of my memory, and with the understanding that I am not a scientist nor an engineer and have only a rudimentary knowledge of how the pressure sensing systems actually work. In addition, we were not permitted to video tape (my preferred method of accurately recording a testing session) and – I admit – the sequence of events were often so fascinating that I neglected to take notes.  I apologize in advance for any factual errors that I am about to commit (I’m sure there will be some). Because we were not allowed to record these sessions, I don’t have pressure sensing maps to show you; I will do my best to obtain these images and permission to put them up here in the near future.

THE NOVEL-PLIANCE PRESSURE TESTING SYSTEM

We began the morning with an overview of the system’s software capability. This session had been set up for us by the Novel-Pliance US staff who showed the utmost professionalism in response to our requests for information, and were the only one (of the four pad companies I contacted) to take our request for a demo seriously. Our experience was greatly enhanced by their presence, especially since Maria Pasquale, an engineer with a biomechanics degree and 8 years of experience at Novel, was on hand to operate the software. Unlike our last experience in which we were left wondering about some of the features of the system, in this case we were given an extremely thorough overview.

The system allows certain data fields to be entered to identify or name each record. These fields are predetermined and are not changeable. However, the next level down in the software permits quite a bit of data entry to thoroughly describe an individual testing session.

When it comes to recording data for evaluation, there are different methodologies. One is to record a certain time frame – say 15 seconds. MSU generally records a certain number of strides. In this fashion, they hope to capture the entire range of the stride in a way that permits comparison. For instance, if one was to do a time trial without counting strides, it is possible that the trial would begin just after – and end just before – the peak force moment of the stride. The longer the test, the less this would have a meaningful effect on results but since pressure tests seem to typically be conducted in short bursts, this could be a factor which impacts the end result.

The Novell-Pliance software appears to be much more sophisticated (to be fair, it might be that Maria is so well versed in operating the software that it simply seemed so).  And the superior data-crunching skills of Dr. Clayton and her assistant, LeeAnn Kaiser, added layers of meaning to the results.

DIRECT COMPARISON: THINGS OF NOTE THAT HAVE STUCK IN MY HEAD

• The Novel pad scans at the rate of 60-80 times per second as compared to the Team-Satteltest pad at 8-15 times per second.  We don’t know how meaningful this is.
• The Satteltest pad measures pressure; the Novel pad measures pressure and also measures force. For instance, we learned that a horse with more suspension may generate higher peak forces; this does not necessarily correlate to worse fit. In face, a saddle that permits the horse to move more freely may in fact “cause” (or enable) higher forces.
• Both pads have 256 sensors, but the Team Satteltest pad has a significantly larger surface area. While this means the T-S pad will work under saddles with a greater weight-bearing surface, it also probably means that the distance between the sensors is greater. The Novel pad does come in a Western version which is longer in both dimensions; we did not see this pad.
• The Novel pad is smooth; the embedded electronics are almost invisible to sight and feel. The Team-Satteltest pad has sensors which give a texture to the pad. Not sure if this is positive or not but it is a difference.
• The Novel Pad is “sliced” front and rear so that the pad parts at the wither and again at the loin. The Satteltest pad is a single unit (though contoured for the wither). The immediate benefit to the sliced version is that shear forces of the saddle downward on the pad do not create an artificial registration of pressure on the spine (we saw this in our tests in Oregon two weeks ago). However, the ability to measure pressure on the spinal processes or spine might be very useful. Difference noted. Benefit unknown.
• The Novel Pad can be calibrated to different scales. The generally accepted scale seems to be 60 kPA (kilo pascals - an accepted measure of force per unit area, one pascal is one newton per square meter). How the Satteltest pad is calibrated – and its scale of measurement – is so far unknown.
• Calibrating the pad is essential for accurate results. The Novel pad has a calibration frame (at an additional cost and additional procedure). The Satteltest pad’s calibration protocol is so far unknown.
• Unlike the Team Satteltest system that we saw last week, the Novel-Pliance system does not have a streaming mode (meaning you cannot watch the computer screen to see the pressure testing results as the rider goes around). It is possible to approximate this by recording a session without saving the result which is less convenient but perfectly functional.
• The Team-Satteltest system includes built-in video: this is a great tool for correlating pressure to results and learning if a high pressure point occurred while the horse stumbled or the rider lost balance. The video for the Novel system is an option that adds thousands of dollars to the cost.
• Both systems have a graphical representation of the rider’s center of pressure (this is not the center of balance, and is certainly not the center of gravity – we were mistaken earlier).

In (preliminary) conclusion - we believe that the Novel-Pliance system is fantastic in a scientific/research environment. We're not sure yet that it is the best choice for our application, which is to give clear information about saddle fit to people who do not, perhaps, understand physiology, anatomy, biomechanics or saddle construction but who are responsible for making decisions about their horses' welfare. But it is certainly an item of desire for our own use.

NEXT STEPS:

A direct comparison of sensor pads is a logical next step, so that we can learn what, if any, impact there is on accuracy when evaluating the different scan rates, sensor density, video on board, and software in a side-by-side comparison. Daring to dream, I’m imagining another testing day – perhaps back at MSU – where we gather together as many different testing systems as possible.

NEXT POST:

The horses and saddles we tested at MSU, and the results. Hopefully with pressure scans.

The Nitty-Gritty: Our First Pressure Tests

WHAT IS THE VALUE OF A PRESSURE TEST?

Before we get into the detail of the images, it’s important to note that the scientific community does not yet agree on how much pressure under the saddle is too much. Perhaps there will never be an absolute standard due to the number of variables. For instance, what might be tolerable pressure on a horse with even muscling and pliant tissue might be excruciating on a horse with existing damage. I am hoping that we’ll find a scale of acceptability eventually . Using the computer’s results, I feel that we could possibly immediately group saddles into three categories: “quite good”, “quite bad”, and “need to correlate to other factors as the test alone is inconclusive”. This is my own opinion and it is one that I might revise after next week’s session in Michigan with the experts: Hilary Clayton and her laboratory technicians who have been using pressure testing in sophisticated studies for several years. So – please read on with the understanding that this is a process of building knowledge and understanding; we are not yet at the point that we’re able to share absolute conclusions.

PAUSE TO GIVE THE NORMAL AMERICAN SETS OF CAVEATS FOR EMPTORS:

To remind you, we conducted tests of several horses wearing conventional saddles, and then wearing ReactorPanel saddles. In each case the ReactorPanel saddle was fitted hastily, and in each case the performance of the ReactorPanel  saddle was superior based on the pressure test, and also on horse and/or rider improvement in performance. While these are extremely exciting results, this research is preliminary. The testing sample was too small to be statistically valid, and none of the horses tested were wearing professionally fit or custom conventional saddles. I hope that RP will perform as well in Michigan this week!

(FINALLY) THE PRESSURE TESTING DATA

Below, you’ll see images of the saddles we tested last week. These images are screen shots provided by Jennifer Stoffer, DVM (you’ll find her contact information at the bottom of this post). The interpretation of the day’s work is my own or based on notes I took at the time. One of the drawbacks of this technology is that some interpretation of the results is needed: the scans do not always speak for themselves.

Here they are:

Conventional saddle: bridging, skimpy weight distribution

ReactorPanel Encore with large weight bearing surface

Above, you’re looking at two images. Each shows the left and right sides of the saddle – hopefully with a gullet channel between them. The system averages pressures among the 256 sensors and then displays different pressures in different colors. We were not told what calculations are used to provide the pressure map, nor what the gradiations in color really mean.  If we become seriously interested in this technology, these are questions we will ask the manufacturer.

You are looking at scans on a Welsh Cob who is competitive at first and second levels. The saddle on the left is the horse’s usual saddle, an older Passier that was not fit for the horse. The scan on the right shows the ReactorPanel Encore dressage saddle. Both scans are aggregates showing the averages over a trot scan of approximately 15 seconds.

This horse’s conformational highlights are:

·         Short-coupled

·         Curved topline

·         Prominent shoulders (bulging scaplulae)

·         Prominent rib cage

·         Depressed trapezius and longimussus dorsi muscles (appear damaged or even slightly atrophied)

·         Minor reaction to palpation but no areas of extreme sensitivity

The pressure test on the left revealed:

·         Weight-bearing surface is smaller than optimal

·         The saddle bridges

·         The highest pressure is at the left rear, near the spine

·         The saddle bumps into the spine at times (not apparent in this aggregate image)

·         Rider’s weight is consistently off to the left as shown by the X which marks the rider’s center of gravity

·         Front-to-back balance is 57% in front, 43% in the back

RP Encore:

·         Much broader and more even weight bearing surface

·         Does not cross spine

·         65% of weight in front

·         Highest pressure: L rear, but outside, not inside

·         Much steadier laterally (not apparent on the aggregate image)

WHEN PRESSURE TESTING PRESENTS A CONUNDRUM

The second horse presented was a 7-year-old Hannoverian mare ridden by a professional. The horse is lovely but frustrating: she resisted left flexion and would fall out of canter without warning. In this case, the pressure tests of the horse’s conventional saddle and the RP were not significantly different but in the ReactorPanel Elegance and AvantGarde dressage saddles, the mare willingly flexed to the left and sustained the canter (the owner/rider is now in the middle of a two-week evaluation of the RP AvantGarde). This points out the need to refine the testing process; in the ideal world, the computer would clearly show that one saddle was superior to the other. Here are the scans:

Conventional Saddle: heavy on the left side

ReactorPanel Elegance: Laterally balanced

In evaluating these two scans, here are the pertinent points:

• The saddle on the left is the horse’s own Passier Grand Gilbert that was not fitted for her
• The saddle on the right is the ReactorPanel Elegance
• Neither saddle has a saddle pad (other than the sensor pad)

In the conventional Passier:

• much more weight is carried to the left than the right as shown by the larger image on the left and also the rider’s “X” (showing center of gravity) that is significantly left. This is the cause of the horse’s difficulty in flexing left.
• More of the weight is carried forward; the pressure is not even front-to-back

 In the ReactorPanel:

• Weight is distributed over a larger area
• Rider’s weight is more centered
• Although the saddle appears to cross the spine, this is an artifact of the panel movement pulling on the sensor pad. In fact, the gullet channel was wide and stable.

We tested two more horses in Oregon but time prohibits posting the results at this point. I will be sure to get those images into this blog before much more time passes, but now I must sign off and pack my suitcase for tomorrow’s trip to Michigan and Dr. Clayton’s lab. I promise to take good notes and to report –as fully as I may ethically – after these sessions. As a bonus: our dear friend and advisor Dr. Kerry Ridgway is so interested in these developments that he will be meeting us in Michigan to observe our testing day. Stay tuned!

Using the Team Satteltester’s Sensor Pad

WHAT IT TOOK TO GET HERE

After months of arranging, weeks of planning, days of attending to details, and hours (!!!!) of driving, we have arrived in Oregon eager to see what technology can add to the complex process of saddle fitting. While we’re here we will be using one of the most affordable systems: the Team Satteltester pad, from Germany. Two weeks from now we will be working with the most expensive system, the Novel Pliance pad (also from Germany). It will be fascinating to compare these two systems from one of the strongest manufacturing and engineering bases in the world, and we are keenly looking forward to this process.

OVERVIEW OF THE SYSTEM

Veterinarian Jennifer Stoffer of Gaston Oregon is the owner of the Team Satteltest sensor pad that we’ll be using in these testing sessions. She has been interested in the health and function of the horse’s back for some time, and learned about sensor pads while taking a saddle fitting and flocking course on the east coast. She’s had this sensor system for about six months and generously agreed to meet and work with us.

We began the day by watching Jennifer set up the sensor pad, driving the system from a standard notebook computer. The pad has telemetry in the form of a small transmitter that goes into a pocket of the pad. Once the transmitter is turned on, the pad can transmit quite a distance; the manufacturers say up to ¼ mile. The pad is put onto the horse’s back, and then the saddle is carefully placed on top and girthed. The system does not seem to be highly sensitive as it doesn’t register useful information until the rider is up, when it averages pressures among the 256 sensors in the pad. The system includes a video camera so that the results of the pressure test can be correlated to the visual footage.

TODAY’S MISSION

Local trainer, friend and RP advocate Janet Aungier arranged four horses for us to use in our study; these horses ranged from green to competitive second level dressage. We saw one intermediate rider, one advanced rider and two trainers. All horses were regularly ridden in conventional saddles. In each case we evaluated the horse and saddle using standard methods (observation and palpation). We then pressure tested the saddle and noted the results. Finally we put a ReactorPanel saddle on the horse and repeated the pressure test. We hoped to learn more about pressure testing in general, and also (pause for complete honesty) hoped to see ReactorPanel outperform the competition. Without making you wait for it, RP did better than each saddle it was up against. However – and this is a BIG however – none of the conventional saddles were custom made or even professionally fit for the horses wearing them. Although this is the norm in the real world, we need to evaluate RP next to the best fitting saddles we can find, which will be one of our next goals.


(next post: the nitty gritty of the pressure testing...with photos and screen shots!)

First Pressure Testing Session held 3/25: Report Soon!

Just a quick note to let you know that the session on Friday, March 25 was fascinating in many respects. It's taken some time to review the video, write up the notes and get images from the computerized testing (and permission from the veterinarian, Jennifer Stoffer of Gaston, OR to use the work). We're still fine-tuning, but will have a full report up within 24 hours - stay tuned!

On the Road to Find Out

Shades of Cat Stevens: "There's so much left to know, and I'm on the road to find out".
This lyric sums it up! I am on the quest to discover all I can about computer sensor technology, and at the same time, I am writing to you from my hotel room just inside the Oregon border as I travel to meet a veterinarian for pressure testing on Friday the 26th.

Who makes sensor pads? And who uses them anyhow? Should we?
When I first became SERIOUS about acquiring a computer sensor pad -- last December -- I started with an internet search, and then contacted anyone with good information about sensor pads, or who made sensor pads. I talked to many people and also to three companies - one in the U.S., one in Canada and one in Germany; each company markets an equine pressure pad for prices ranging from $7,000 to $25,000. All are medical companies who have taken the pressure sensor technology developed for patient applications (think: reducing bed sores, or creating wheel chairs that are ergonomic) and offered them for equine applications. The major value-add is in the software. The hardware (the pressure sensor pad and computer) aren't very different in human and equine environments. While pressure pads are catching on in parts of Europe, they are almost unheard of here in the U.S. I wonder: is this well overdue? Or could it be that we, as American consumers, don't embrace fact and science when it comes to our relationships with our horses?

What does the computer do and why is it important?
First of all, any tool is just that, and even the data yielded by the computer needs to be filtered by an expert. Here's what I'm talking about, in a very limited explanation. The sensor pad measures pressures underneath the saddle and displays them graphically and in some cases numerically. We have learned that pressures as low as 1.5 psi (pounds per square inch) can occlude blood flow - which depletes oxygenation of the muscle, which can lead to tissue degeneration or atrophy. The location of the pressure point is important though. The density and pliancy of the horse's muscles are important also. So too is the distance from the surface of the skin to blood vessels or to bone which of course differ under various areas of the back. This means that there is no absolute pressure point scale. The information (science) yielded by the computer must be intepreted by an expert in the (art) of saddle fit. See where I'm going? Combining science and art yields the best result.

Food for Thought
Two very thought-provoking questions were asked on Facebook yesterday, both from reputed experts in the equine field. One said essentially, "who needs a computer? the horse will tell you everything you need to know". I think this is true - except if the horse's owner cannot read the messages, or if the horse is so stoic that he won't express pain. I got involved in saddle fitting for a variety of reasons, but one of the most compelling was the woman who asked me to check her horse's back. He was tied to her trailer, saddled. She removed the saddle, exposing his bloody withers. Yes - she was concerned. But she wasn't lying on the ground nursing her injuries and wondering why the horse had thrown her...he was continuing to work for her.  Of course she didn't need a computer to tell her that she had a serious problem, but other owners of these sorts of horses might. The other question was from a highly regarded and skilled fitter who wondered why use a computer because you should be able to feel the problem with your hands, see it with your eyes, and design a saddle system to solve the problem. Perhaps this person doesn't need the computer. But many of us with lesser education or lesser abilities might need a tool that lets us know definitively that we have a problem. With this information, we can find experts (perhaps this saddle fitter) who can make our horses more comfortable.

What is the End Goal?
As the months have passed, I confess that my hopes for this technology are growing. I'm beginning to wonder about how it might be possible to take pressure pads out of the closet and into the mainstream. The cost of the pad is prohibitive, but the potential benefit to horses' comfort (and owner's wallets!) might be immeasurable. Although I started the process thinking I was shopping for a tool that would help me to train saddle fitters and do product development while it was earning its keep as a sales tool for RP saddles, I find myself beginning to think on the global (or at least national) plane. More on this later. For now, I'm out to acquire the basic information.

This Week's Mission
A series of contacts led me to a veterinarian outside Portland, Oregon. She purchased a sensor pad a few months ago, and is willing to work with me for most of one day to introduce me to this lower-end system. Local dressage trainer Janet Aungier agreed to host our testing session, and has lined up a series of horses for us that have supposedly well-fitting conventional saddles. On Friday morning, we'll assess each horse and saddle, scan the saddle as the horse is ridden, and the replace the conventional saddle with a ReactorPanel saddle (fit on the fly as there is a very limited amount of time for this exercise) and then repeat the scans of the same horse and rider in the different saddle. We're scheduled to visit Hilary Clayton's lab at Michigan State University and repeat these experiments in a few weeks with the highest-end system, the Novel-Pliance pad from Germany.

Here are some things I hope to learn this Friday (based on the results I may have a revised list for our sessions in Michigan):

• How easy it it to use the pad and computer? Does it seem robust?
• Do you need a background in physiology to understand what's happening or is it obvious and transparent to everyone?
• How long must we test to get a meaningful profile?
• How much difference is there between the best moment and the worst moment? And what is happening at best and worst - can we extrapolate that sitting trot is likely to be good and posting trot is bad, for instance?
• Is it possible to give a saddle a fixed score that tells you where that saddle sits relative to other saddles?
• Does RP test out exceedingly well? Of course I  hope it does as I have based the last decade of my life on this premise...but I vow to be a good scientist and conduct our experiments as accurately as we can do and live with the results.

I'm very much looking forward to the exchange of information on Friday, and will keep you posted about what happens.

Note to readers: 

I find I'm struggling a bit with what information to present here. If you're curious about something, please use the comments section to ask questions as I'm happy to go in whatever direction you need.

Next Topic: The pressure-testing session this Friday!

In Search of Truth (and pressure testing!)

About Desire
I've wanted a computerized pressure testing pad for a long time. A really long time. Ever since I saw the first one in Colorado around 1999, I've wanted a pressure testing pad. The problem has always been that the prices were way out of reach for a small saddle company with miniscule budgets (and a president whose pockets weren't much deeper). Now the prices have come down quite a bit, and around the start of the year I got seriously interested in getting a pad of our own.

Why bother with pressure tests?
Because they yield information that is absolute fact. After more than a decade of fitting and evaluating saddles (and 20 years of riding, training and teaching before that) I've gotten pretty good at assessing fit. The problem is this: I have not yet found a way to get my hand under the center of the saddle while the rider is up and the horse is cantering around. I think we'll all agree that this is the moment when the saddle must fit. So even though I'm a pretty good fitter, all my skills involve observation and palpation, and I freely admit this: I can't be right all the time because the saddle changes shape under the weight of the rider and the horse's back changes shape constantly while he is in motion. It seems to me that the only definitive test for pressure points is one that happens while the rider is up and the horse is moving, and it does not involve the saddle fitter's eyes or hands.

Seduced by the Computer
The more I travel around testing saddles, the more saddles I see with severe pressure points, almost always in the hands of owners with no idea that the saddles are causing a problem (then there are the ones who don't want to know...but we don't need to discuss them here). At the ReactorPanel Saddle Company, we use the Port Lewis Impression Pad regularly. It is a wonderful tool for revealing serious problems but it takes 30 minutes per test and isn't feasible to use when someone wants information on three or more saddles on the same horse. Nobody wants to ride for 2+ hours just to get fitting information, and I don't have the time to stretch each fitting session into a 3 hour marathon. So I find that I do less pressure testing than I would like to do. Now if I only had that computerized pad, I could get a glimpse of the saddle in seconds, and a thorough profile in just a few minutes. I imagine having access to real data in a matter of seconds. I think of all the horses who could benefit from this knowledge. I find myself on the internet, researching pads then calling the companies who make them and then...

Setting Up Testing Sessions
I'm starting to think seriously about buying a pad. I've been able to find a veterinarian in the Portland area who is willing to work with me for half a day. She has a pad made in Germany that is extremely affordable, and she impresses me on the telephone with her desire for accurate information and her independent quest for knowledge about the back and about saddle fitting. We struggle with our calendars; January is out and so is February. We find a March date that looks possible, and put it down: March 25. So, on Wednesday afternoon, I'll load the van with saddles and gear, add the man and the dogs, and prepare to hit the road for our first pressure testing session. I'll be updating this blog as the week progresses.

Next Up: Hilary Clayton's Lab!
Yes - this is coming up on April 5. Full details coming soon (yes, this is a blatant teaser: I hope you'll come back and follow this story!)