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how is handedness (footedness)known? |
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Blindfold the horse, and see which way it turns when running? |
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<trivia> Although, irrespective of handedness, horses fall over to their left. If you ever see horses fall over in films (in a Western, after getting shot, for example) they'll always fall to the left. </trivia> |
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fascinating! I don't believe that for one minute :) |
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Not a masturbation contest, then? |
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Evidently not. I don't suggest posting that either. |
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yeah, i'm a punter. handedness is very important. good horses can just 'disappear' on left/right handed courses that don't suit. would be interesting to see if humans have the same preferences. |
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maturbation race is baked. I think it was acalled the Belgian Biscuit Race. Not sure why it was Belgian, but there ya go. |
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Funny that - I used to speed skate, but can't go round a rink clockwise for toffee, even in hockey skates.
Does American motorsport ever have races the wrong way around the oval? |
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I'd love to see motor racing around a figure-of-eight track. I'd want a seat by the crossroads. |
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Figure of eight tracks exist... unfortunately they use a bridge. Spoil sports. |
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Sheffield ice rink used to do figure-of-eight speed skating - hockey blades only - in public sessions. No padding or helmets. Scary stuff. |
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<humans have the same preferences> [etherman], surfers and snowboarders have a preferred leading foot, the odd guys were called "goofyfoot", but seldom called human. |
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Chirality is a word that could be applied.
Horse-people sometimes discuss "footedness" but don't often know what or why it is. I remember a horseback ride where the owner led my horse around in a tight circle, and told me to keep him going. I asked what the heck that was about, and took a few years to understand the answer.
Horses are quadrupeds with flexible spines, so they can do what dogs and rabbits and cheetahs do--bring the back legs up under the body to kick back with both feet, using the spinal muscles to stretch out to land on the front feet, bring the back legs up again. Look at the pictures of a galloping horse (Muybridge link). The trick is that this is not a symmetrical frog-hop with the front feet moving side-by-side: the horse uses each set of front or back legs to make a one-two bipedal step each time that set is on the ground.
It's kind of like a human running on top of a row of desks: you get a quick left-right, a jump, a left-right, a jump, then you crash into the coffeemaker.
Well, a horse can go left-right, or go right-left, and it can be called leading, or canter-lead or not noticed. Apparently, many horses have a preference, or a smoother leading side, or a faster side. The horse I was riding had got stuck on his rough side, and the owner tricked him into switching sides.
On a turning track, a left-leading horse and a right-leading horse are going to find things different. (In a contra-dance swing, it makes an incredible difference which foot you lead with, but it's very hard to explain to people.)
In the silhouette photos, you can't tell which side that horse prefers. Ironically, those photos settled a big controversy about whether a horse ever had all four feet off the ground at once. Now we need photos to show which foot a horse leads with. |
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Figure-of-eight horse races? |
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So the holy grail is an ambidextrous horse? |
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My mother is almost completely equal on both feet and hands. |
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Writing, throwing, catching all are pretty random. She can and does use either/or. Her only real preference is kicking with her left foot, but her right is not too shab either. |
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This is quite interesting. Not quite as interesting as thinking about whether [Giblet] inherited polydexterity. I picture typing with left hand / right foot / and controlling the mouse with the right hand all the while distractedly caressing a drink with the left foot occasionally hoisting it to take a refreshing sip. |
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really this is quite good IMHO, [longshot9999]+ |
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You know the term "One Handed Typer"? |
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Well, I'm a two handed typer and I still get the job done. |
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Either that's disgusting or I don't understand the term "One handed typer". |
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I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous. |
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[baconbrain], I was fortunate enough to have the learning experience of training a wild mustang a few years ago. |
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Early on, the horse must be taught to go around in a circle on command either direction. |
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Ford [the mustang] gave me clockwise in about 5 minutes, and had no problems with it. |
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Counterclockwise was a knockdown, dragout, no holds barred battle for 1 1/2 hours. Definitely a horse with a preference. |
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I, too, have noticed handed preferences in animals. I had a horse that always preferred turning to the left (barrel racing). |
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I have also noticed that certain cars turn better one way than the other, especially those sprint cars. ;-) |
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A human's stride is symmetrical, unlike a horse (and good luck to you horse trainers) so I don't think it would make a bit of difference which way a running track turns, as far as speed goes.
However, as your soul goes, there could be an eternal difference. There used to be a strong bias for turning sunwise, now only remembered by the pagans (<Homer Simpson>God bless those pagans</Homer Simpson>).
Walking around a church the wrong way was considered very bad. Here in DC there are a lot of traffic circles, all left-turning--I'm looking for one with a church in the middle, just so I can drive around widdershins to see if that counts.
Maybe if the runners were turning sunwise, the old gods would approve, and the pagans would start turning out for sports. |
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[etherman] Same-level figure eight track races exist, and they're a lot of fun to watch. The cars are all reinforced tubing cages with engines and body panels and not much else. It's usually about 1/6 of a mile (.35 km) from center of track, around both sets of turns, and back to the cross. |
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I'm guessing its sponsored by the local panel beater. |
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Incidentally, having played rugby for a number of years I know that certain players wind it much more difficult to 'step off' on foot rather than the other. In other words they find it easy to side step a player from right to left... but not left to right. I know its not the same but I just thought I'd throw it into the mix. |
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(Also apparently England players can't do either:) |
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