Topic:Athletic Horses
The topic of athletic horses encompasses the study and analysis of horses that are trained and conditioned for performance in various disciplines such as racing, show jumping, dressage, and eventing. These horses are subject to specialized training regimens and nutritional plans to optimize their physical capabilities and performance outcomes. Research in this area often focuses on aspects such as biomechanics, cardiovascular fitness, muscle physiology, and injury prevention. This topic includes a collection of peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the physiological adaptations, training methodologies, and health management practices associated with maintaining and enhancing the performance of athletic horses.
Variability of Jump Biomechanics Between Horses of Different Age and Experience Using Commercial Inertial Measurement Unit Technology. The application of commercial inertial measurement units has become popular in equestrian sports, which may help to eliminate a gap of knowledge concerning many aspects of biomechanics in training. This study employed the Seaver IMU system to measure jumping characteristics of horses with differing age-competition experience during regular training. It was hypothesized that experience level results in lower variability of jumping parameters. Twelve Warmblood horses aged 5 to 6 years with/without competition experience and 7 to 11 years with experience were investigated during regular training ...
Within and Between-Tournament Variability in Equestrian Polo. The external work, as measured by global positioning systems, undertaken by Polo ponies during tournament play has been well-described across Polo of varying levels in both Open and Women's Polo. However, the variability within these data have not been thoroughly examined. Understanding the variability within these data between players (within-tournament variability) and between tournaments allows a deeper understanding of expected Polo performance and can inform coaching and tactical decisions, as well as aid in longitudinal horse development and comparison to other equestrian disciplines. Th...
The Effects of an External Equine Nasal Strip on Thermoregulation During Exercise. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an external nasal strip on thermoregulation during submaximal exercise in Standardbred horses. While several studies have been conducted to determine the effects of the external nasal strip on airway resistance, exercise induced pulmonary hemorrhage, gas exchange, and time to fatigue in maximally exercising horses, the effects of the nasal strip on equine thermoregulation have not yet been examined. It was hypothesized that the application of an external nasal strip would alter central venous temperature (T), skin temperature (T), and exe...
Ultrasonographic Evaluation of the Suspensory Ligament in Quarter Horses Used for Cutting. Ultrasound remains a mainstay in proximal suspensory ligament (PSL) evaluation. Despite recent improvements facilitating earlier diagnosis/treatment, needs exist for (1) characterization of normal ultrasonographic PSL cross-sectional area (CSA) in specific breeds/disciplines, (2) improved detection of early/subtle changes in the PSL, and (3) an understanding of suspensory ligament (SL) morphology change from work-related stress. The objectives of this study were to establish normal PSL CSA in Quarter Horses (QH) used for cutting via angle contrast ultrasonography, ultrasonographically monitor ...
Retrospective review of atrial fibrillation in Standardbred racehorses at a tertiary care facility in Atlantic Canada. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most clinically relevant cardiac arrhythmia identified in the Standardbred racehorse. However, there is limited literature regarding athletic ability in Standardbred racehorses following AF conversion. To investigate this issue, the objectives of this review were to: i) determine the success rate in using quinidine sulphate to treat AF in a population of hospitalized equine patients in Atlantic Canada between January 2008 and December 2019; and ii) measure return to athletic ability (using racetrack earnings and top-3 finishes) following cardioversion with quini...
Body Condition Score Is Not Correlated to Gastric Ulcers in Non-Athlete Horses. Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome (EGUS) is a worldwide disease of the stomach that can be found in different categories of horses. Different clinical signs may be present, but a large number of horses are asymptomatic. The aim of this study was to identify a possible correlation between body condition score (BCS) and EGUS in a population of horses. A total of 203 non-athlete horses were submitted for gastroscopies, and the presence and severity of lesions of the glandular and squamous mucosa were recorded. A board-certified veterinarian blinded to the gastroscopy results assessed the BCS of the h...
Discovery of exercise-related genes and pathway analysis based on comparative genomes of Mongolian originated Abaga and Wushen horse. The Mongolian horses have excellent endurance and stress resistance to adapt to the cold and harsh plateau conditions. Intraspecific genetic diversity is mainly embodied in various genetic advantages of different branches of the Mongolian horse. Since people pay progressive attention to the athletic performance of horse, we expect to guide the exercise-oriented breeding of horses through genomics research. We obtained the clean data of 630,535,376,400 bp through the entire genome second-generation sequencing for the whole blood of four Abaga horses and ten Wushen horses. Based on the data an...
Effect of Clenbuterol on Muscle Activity During Exercise in Standardbred Horses. Clenbuterol (β agonist) is a commonly administered bronchodilator in race and performance horses. While long-term administration can alter exercise performance and muscle properties, little is known about its effects on these parameters following short-term administration. A single dose of clenbuterol (0.80 µg/kg) was expected to alter muscle activity of the extensor carpi radialis, semitendinosus, and longissimus dorsi during submaximal exercise. Eight mature Standardbred horses exercised for 2 minutes at 5 m/s on a high-speed treadmill following clenbuterol dosing (clenbuterol) or no dosin...
Assessing the cardiac valves conditions in athletic horses with poor performance. Heart murmurs and valvular regurgitation are common in horses and often have no effect on their performance. However, when structural changes occur in the heart size, they can affect performance adversely. This study aimed to examine the correlation between cardiac valves disease and poor performance in athletic horses. A total of 300 athletic Thoroughbred and mix-breed horses including 164 mares and 136 stallions, with a history of poor performance, were selected. Horses with cardiac murmurs were identified and further cardiac examination including precise auscultation, base-apex electrocardi...
Risk factors for lameness elimination in British endurance riding. Horse welfare is a priority in the equine sport of endurance riding. Identification and reduction of risk factors associated with elimination and lameness have been the focus of research to date, however, this has centred on international competition. National federations recognise there is a need to consider risk factors for elimination at a more local level. Objective: Determine current risk factors associated with horse eliminations, specifically lameness eliminations within British endurance. Methods: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: Data were extracted from the Endurance GB database, ...
Exercise regulates shelterin genes and microRNAs implicated in ageing in Thoroughbred horses. Ageing causes a gradual deterioration of bodily functions and telomere degradation. Excessive telomere shortening leads to cellular senescence and decreases tissue vitality. Six proteins, called shelterin, protect telomere integrity and control telomere length through telomerase-dependent mechanisms. Exercise training appears to maintain telomeres in certain somatic cells, although the underlying molecular mechanisms are incompletely understood. Here, we examined the influence of a single bout of vigorous exercise training on leukocyte telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) and shelterin gene...
Physiological Demands and Muscle Activity of Jockeys in Trial and Race Riding. Physiological parameters and muscle activity of jockeys may affect their fall and injury risk, performance, and career longevity, as well as the performance and welfare of the horses they ride. Therefore, this study aimed to quantify the physiological demands, body displacement, and electromyographic (EMG) activity of twelve jockeys riding 52 trials and 16 professional races. The jockeys were instrumented with heart rate (HR) monitors, accelerometers, and integrated EMG clothing (recording eight muscle groups: quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteal, erector spinae/lower back, abdominal external obliq...
Fédération Equestre Internationale eventing: Fence-level risk factors for falls during the cross-country phase (2008-2018). The equestrian discipline of eventing tests athletes' and horses' skill over three phases: dressage, jumping and cross-country. Falls during cross-country can be particularly serious and result in serious or fatal injury for both horse and athlete. Cross-country course and fence design are crucial contributory factors to safety. Objective: To provide descriptive statistics and identify fence-level risk factors for horses competing in Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) events worldwide. Methods: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: Data were collected for every horse start worldwide in ...
An Extra-Articular Surgical Approach to Subchondral Bone Cysts in the Humeral Head and Talus in Two Horses. To date, only a few reports describe the treatment. The present report describes an extraarticular surgical approach, with the insertion of an absorbable implant, to treat a Subchondral cystic lesion (SCL) in the humeral head 3year old racing Thoroughbred & in the talus of a 11year old Arabian horse. SCLs were radiographically visible and associated with severe lameness. Scintigraphy showed focal intense radiopharmaceutical uptake in both cases, and CT scan revealed signs of osteoarthrosis associated with SCL in the talus. The use of a biocompatible, osteoinductive and osteoconductive implant ...
Laryngeal reinnervation using the spinal accessory nerve: Electromyographic study of the sternomandibularis muscle. Selective laryngeal reinnervation using the first and second cervical nerve (C1C2) is a treatment option for recurrent laryngeal neuropathy that aims to restore the function of the cricoarytenoideus dorsalis (CAD) muscle. Despite the technique's satisfying success rate, it has several limitations. These triggered the search for another potential donor nerve that could reduce CAD muscle fatigue and shorten rehabilitation. The ventral branch of the spinal accessory nerve, providing motor innervation to the sternomandibularis (SM) muscle, was identified as a potentially well-adapted nerve. Object...
Elevated dietary selenium rescues mitochondrial capacity impairment induced by decreased vitamin E intake in young exercising horses. Maintenance of mitochondrial health, which is supported in part by dietary antioxidants such as selenium (Se) and vitamin E (vitE), is pertinent to optimizing athletic performance. Deficiencies in Se and vitE negatively impact muscle health but mitochondrial adaptations to various levels of dietary Se and vitE are poorly understood. Young Quarter Horses (mean ± SD: 17.6 ± 0.9 mo) undergoing submaximal exercise training were used to test the hypothesis that a proprietary antioxidant blend containing elevated Se yeast (EconomasE, Alltech, Inc., Nicholasville, KY) would improve mitochondrial ch...
Correlation between Ocular and Rectal Temperature with Intra Ocular Pressure in Horse during Exercise. The aim of the present study was to investigate the response to physical exercise of some ocular physiological variables (ocular temperature and intraocular pressure) in horses performing a jumping course in the morning (a.m.) or in the afternoon hours (p.m.), before and after the exercise, in correlation with the rectal temperature. Data collection was carried out on 14 clinical healthy Italian saddle horses. All horses were trained from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. and from 19:00 to 20:00 p.m. according to a specific training program. Ocular temperature (OT), rectal temperature (RT) and intraocular pr...
Lithium Concentration in Biological Samples and Gender Difference in Athletic Horses. Lithium (Li) represent a substance particularly used for human psychiatric disorders but its therapeutic effect is not well documented for equine specie. For its neurotrophic effect, it may be used as a possible doping substance in horses sports competitions. The purpose of the present study was to determine the different bioaccumulation of lithium concentrations in different biological substrates (blood, serum, mane, and tail), in 30 horses (15 geldings and 15 mares) and hematological parameters as blood biomarkers for lithium bioaccumulation. (RBC, WBC, HGB, HCT, MCV, MCH, MCHC). The lithium...
Efficacy of a commercial dry sleeve cryotherapy system for cooling the equine metacarpus. To determine the ability of a commercial cryotherapy system (Game Ready Equine) to cool the metacarpal subcutaneous tissue and the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) in horses. Methods: Experimental study. Methods: Six healthy adult horses. Methods: Thermocouples were implanted into the metacarpal subcutaneous tissues and the SDFT of six horses. Two treatments (cryotherapy or cryotherapy with 5-50 mmHg intermittent compression) were randomly assigned to forelimbs and performed for 20 minutes. Temperatures were compared to the target range of 10-19°C and between groups. Results: Only...
Quantitative Gait Analysis Before and After a Cross-country Test in a Population of Elite Eventing Horses. Early recognition of lameness is crucial for injury prevention. Quantitative gait analysis systems can detect low-grade asymmetries better than the human eye and may be useful in early lameness recognition. The aims of this study were (1) to investigate the frequency of gait asymmetries based on head and pelvic movement in elite eventing horses using inertial mounted measurement units and (2) to assess the association between asymmetries and muscle enzymes and blood lactate (LA) levelspost-exercise. Movement asymmetry of the head, wither, and pelvis were quantified in 33 elite eventing horses ...
Training the equine respiratory muscles: Inspiratory muscle strength. Little is known about the response of the equine respiratory muscles to training. Objective: To measure an index of inspiratory muscle strength (IMSi) before and after a period of conventional exercise training (phase 1) and inspiratory muscle training (IMT), comparing high-load (treatment) and low-load (control) groups (phase 2). Methods: Prospective randomised controlled trial. Methods: Phase 1: Twenty National Hunt Thoroughbred racehorses performed an inspiratory muscle strength test (IMST) twice on two occasions; when unfit at timepoint A (July), and when race fit at timepoint B (October)....
Relationship between Thoroughbred workloads in racing and the fatigue life of equine subchondral bone. Fatigue life (FL) is the number of cycles of load sustained by a material before failure, and is dependent on the load magnitude. For athletes, 'cycles' translates to number of strides, with load proportional to speed. To improve previous investigations estimating workload from distance, we used speed (m/s, x) per stride collected using 5 Hz GPS/800 Hz accelerometer sensors as a proxy for limb load to investigate factors associated with FL in a Thoroughbred race start model over 25,234 race starts, using a combination of mathematical and regression modelling. Fore-limb vertical force (NKg) w...
Detection of Horse Locomotion Modifications Due to Training with Inertial Measurement Units: A Proof-of-Concept. Detecting fatigue during training sessions would help riders and trainers to optimize their training. It has been shown that fatigue could affect movement patterns. Inertial measurement units (IMUs) are wearable sensors that measure linear accelerations and angular velocities, and can also provide orientation estimates. These sensors offer the possibility of a non-invasive and continuous monitoring of locomotion during training sessions. However, the indicators extracted from IMUs and their ability to show these locomotion changes are not known. The present study aims at defining which kinemat...
Training the equine respiratory muscles: Ultrasonographic measurement of muscle size. Limited information exists regarding changes in the size of respiratory and locomotor muscles in response to exercise training in the Thoroughbred racehorse. Objective: To describe and compare the responses of the respiratory and locomotor muscles to conventional exercise training and inspiratory muscle training (IMT). Methods: Prospective randomised controlled trial. Methods: Thoroughbred racehorses, in training for competition in National Hunt races, were recruited from two training establishments. Ultrasonographic images were obtained for selected muscles of the upper airway, diaphragm, acc...
Oxidant and Antioxidant Parameters’ Assessment Together with Homocysteine and Muscle Enzymes in Racehorses: Evaluation of Positive Effects of Exercise. This study aimed to evaluate the changes in serum oxidant and antioxidant parameters together with the serum values of homocysteine (Hcy) and muscle enzymes including creatine kinase (CK), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in regularly trained athletic horses during official races of 1200, 1600 and 2000 m. Thirty Thoroughbred horses were divided into three groups of 10 subjects each according to the race distance: Group 1, 1200 m race; Group 2, 1600 m race; Group 3, 2000 m race. Blood samples were collected from horses 1 week prior to the race (1WB), on the day o...