ACOUSTIC DETERMINATION OF THE GAIT OF A HOOFED ANIMAL

The gait of hoofed animals, particularly agricultural working animals, is acoustically determined in order for example to detect hoof diseases at an early stage. A given gait of hoofed animals, especially agricultural working animals, is determined in order to detect unnatural aspects of a gait. To achieve this, the stepping sounds of a working animal/hoofed animal (1) are detected by (a) sound sensor(s) (5) in a frequency range of at least 20 Hz to 5 kHz. The analogue output signals are then routed to a signal-processing unit (7) and digitized by same. At least the specific parameters of time sequence and progression of the steps, frequency spectrum and the progression thereof and the noise level spectrum are converted by the signal-processing unit (7) into at least one parameter vector. The vector is then routed to an evaluation unit (8) and classified there, and the degree of similarity to previously recorded parameter vectors is determined.