horse paces simulator

r july/august 1983 43 1~ B. Darnton horse paces simulator In horse riding it is very important to know exactly what the horse is doing with its legs at all times. A simple electronic circuit can be used to demonstrate, with LEDs, an idealised order of footfalls to indi- cate when each foot comes to the ground. The only problem is how do you explain to your horse that he has been replaced by an electronic circuit? The circuit diagram for this device is given is figure 1, and it is obvious that no complicated electronics are involved. Despite this simplicity the circuit does have a few nice features. Obviously every horse moves in a slightly different manner, and this also depends on the age and level of training of the horse (and its rider), so what we have here is an idealised version of how a horse moves. One LED is used for each foot; when the LED is lit the foot is on the ground. There are basically four different ways of moving catered for, walking, trotting, cantering and gal...