“People said it was technically and economically impossible, and also psychologically unacceptable for riders,” he recalls. Jouffroy says reaction to the idea among the very traditional equestrian community was at first sceptical. Pierre Durand, then head of the Cadre Noire, that a simulator might offer new possibilities for rider training. The idea was hatched by Jean-Louis Jouffroy, a former French air force pilot with a passion for riding horses. The development of the horse is a tale of enthusiasm and technical perseverance. The name “Persival” is an abbreviation of “Programme de Recherche de Simulation du Cheval,” which translates to Research Programme on Horse Simulation. The size and shape of a real horse and clad with a conventional saddle, Persival II can accurately imitate the entire range of a horse’s movements, including jumps. Behind a door marked “virtual obstacle jump” stands Persival II, a sophisticated horse simulator. It offers four-star accommodation to some 400 horses, which are kept in state-of-the-art stables with automatic feeding systems, mechanical manure extraction and even sun lamps to dry them off after their showers.īut the school is also home to a stranger beast. Set in the countryside near Saumur in the Loire valley, the school provides top-class training facilities for France’s national jumping and eventing teams. Persival is a sophisticated horse simulator.The French National Equestrian School, home to the celebrated Cadre Noire display team, is an impressive institution. With Persival II in the stable, riding practice will never be the same again. The SKF roller screws have proved to be 100 percent reliable and have never required any maintenance despite the heavy demands placed on them. “We tighten the nuts and bolts at the start of the year, and that’s it,” says Patrick Galloux, head of the research department at the school. In eight years of operation at the National Equestrian School, only one electric motor has had to be changed. But the system has proved itself to require very little maintenance. With up to 90 kg on its back, the simulator’s six roller screws are subjected to considerable mechanical strain. For us, the problem was how to make it small enough to fit under something the size of an actual horse,” comments Jean-Louis Jouffroy, who headed the project to build the horse simulator. “It’s a classic arrangement for simulators, only miniaturised. A linear potentiometer regulates the precision of the movements.Ĭontrolled by a computer, the arrangement can accurately recreate any movement a horse can make. Each “leg”‘ is propelled by an SKF linear actuator driven by planetary roller screws via an electric motor. The actuators link a triangular plate on the floor to another triangle offset by 60 degrees that is fixed under the horse’s body. The movement of the horse simulator at the French National Equestrian School is derived from the action of six SKF linear actuators with roller screws.

Ride equestrian simulation