Having undertaken an undergraduate degree in Equine Science at Hartpury, Celeste Wilkins’ career path took her into the worlds of journalism and biotechnology. After six years away, she returned to Hartpury to study a PhD in biomechanics and physiology of equestrian rider technique.
“My area of particular interest is performance based,” she explains. “Looking for quantitative performance indicators to use as benchmarks for riders and to be able to assess their performance with a higher degree of precision than we have previously.”
Celeste’s overarching research focussed on the coordination between equestrian riders and horses; in this case, analysing the pelvic technique of elite dressage riders. Her project was supported by Hartpury’s academic teams.
“We have facilities in our small university that rival bigger institutions. The Racewood Event Simulator and Qualisys motion capture camera allow us to collect quantitative data on how riders move and focus on the rider in a lab setting.
"We expose riders to the same frequency and amplitude of oscillations and cut down variables. From a welfare perspective, we are able to collect data without having to worry about horses becoming tired.
"When I’m ready to test my hypotheses with real horses, I'm able to use the Hartpury Arena, which has lots of space to set up the cameras and other equipment. Our Human Performance Lab also helped to conduct gold-standard exercise physiology research in riders.”
Celeste’s work has been published and presented at industry conferences. In 2020, she won Best Postgraduate presentation at the Equine Student Research Conference.
The following year, alongside fellow PhD candidate Isabeau Deckers, she overcame a 280-strong field to win the inaugural Xsens Biomechanics Challenge, a global biomechanics competition for universities, winning Hartpury thousands of pounds of state-of-the-art sensors and software in the process.
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