Topic:Conditioning
Conditioning in horses refers to the systematic process of improving a horse's physical fitness, strength, and endurance through structured training programs. This process involves a combination of exercises that target cardiovascular, muscular, and skeletal systems to enhance overall performance and reduce the risk of injury. Conditioning programs are tailored to the specific discipline or activity the horse is engaged in, such as racing, dressage, or eventing. Key components of conditioning include progressive loading, rest periods, and monitoring of physiological responses to training. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the methodologies, effects, and outcomes of conditioning practices in equine athletes.
Effect of Exercise Conditioning on Countering the Effects of Obesity and Insulin Resistance in Horses-A Review. Obesity is an important health concern in horses, along with humans and companion animals. Adipose tissue is an inflammatory organ that alters the insulin-signaling cascade, ultimately causing insulin dysregulation and impaired glucose metabolism. These disruptions can increase the risk of metabolic disease and laminitis in horses and may also impact energy metabolism during exercise. A single bout of exercise, along with chronic exercise conditioning, increases insulin sensitivity and glucose disposal via both contraction- and insulin-mediated glucose uptake pathways. Regular exercise also in...
Effects of hyperthermia and acidosis on mitochondrial production of reactive oxygen species. Exercise is associated with the development of oxidative stress, but the specific source and mechanism of production of pro-oxidant chemicals during exercise has not been confirmed. We used equine skeletal muscle mitochondria to test the hypothesis that hyperthermia and acidosis affect mitochondrial oxygen consumption and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Skeletal muscle biopsies were obtained at rest, after an acute episode of fatiguing exercise, and after a 9-wk conditioning program to increase aerobic fitness. Mitochondrial oxygen consumption and ROS production were measured simu...
Cardiac Changes after Lactate-Guided Conditioning in Young Purebred Arabian Horses. Cardiac adaptation to conditioning in horses was evaluated after empirical training based on trainers' experience. Twelve purebred Arabian horses, aged (mean ± SD) 28.42 ± 3.75 months, which did not perform any type of exercise prior to the research, were submitted to treadmill conditioning for six weeks. The conditioning program was based on the velocity run by the horse at which the blood lactate concentration, determined in an incremental exercise test (IET), reached 2 mmol/L (V). The velocity at which the blood lactate concentration reached 4 mmol/L (V) was also determined. The echocardi...
Comparison of physiological demands in Warmblood show jumping horses over a standardized 1.10 m jumping course versus a standardized exercise test on a track. A greater understanding of exercise physiology and biochemistry is required for the sport horse disciplines, including show jumping. Conditioning of horses for show jumping is empirical because they are primarily trained on flat ground, however the equivalent workload between jumping and flat work is currently unknown. The objectives of the study were therefore to compare the physiological demands of Warmblood show jumpers over a standardized 1.10 m course vs a 600 m standardized incremental exercise test on flat ground, and to report reference field test values for competitive show jumpin...
Emotional state and personality influence cognitive flexibility in horses (Equus caballus). Emotions are recognized as strong modulators of cognitive capacities. However, studies have mainly focused on the effect of negative emotions, with few investigating positive emotions. Recent studies suggest that traits of personality can modulate the effects of emotion on cognitive performance. This study aimed to assess whether emotional states differing according to their valence influenced the ability to achieve instrumental conditioning and learning flexibility and to determine the influence of personality. After being tested for their personality, 55 mares underwent acquisition and extin...
A conditioned reinforcer did not help to maintain an operant conditioning in the absence of a primary reinforcer in horses. The use of conditioned reinforcers is increasingly promoted in animal training. Surprisingly, the efficiency of their use remains to be demonstrated in horses. This study aimed to determine whether an auditory signal which had previously been associated with a food reward 288 times could be used as a conditioned reinforcer to replace the primary reinforcer in an unrelated operant conditioning procedure. Fourteen horses were divided into two groups of 7: No Reinforcement (NR) and Conditioned Reinforcement (CR). All horses underwent nine sessions of Pavlovian conditioning during which the word "...
Effects of exercise on chondrocyte viability and subchondral bone sclerosis in the distal third metacarpal and metatarsal bones of young horses. The objective was to determine the effects of early exercise on the articular cartilage and subchondral bone at specific sites of the distal third metacarpal and metatarsal bones of 12 young Thoroughbred horses allowed free choice exercise at pasture. Six of the horses had additional controlled exercise 5 days per week from mean age of 21+/-20 days of age (range: 3-83 days) until 17.1 months of age. Confocal laser scanning microscopy was used to quantify viable and non-viable chondrocytes. Proteoglycan scoring and modified Mankin scoring was performed and subchondral bone mineral density measu...
Effect of conditioning horses with short intervals at high speed on biochemical variables in blood. There is limited published work on the effect of training using intensive and short intervals of exercise to condition horses for racing. Objective: To examine the effect of conditioning horses 1, 2 or 3 x a week using 2 short fast exercise intervals on blood lactate (LA), plasma ammonia (NH3) and urea (urea) as well as creatine kinase (CK) activity. Methods: Thoroughbreds (age 4-5 years) were conditioned at near maximal speed (12-14 m/sec) over 100 m, on 2 occasions separated by a 10 min period at walk, on dirt track (conditioning exercise; CE) during a 6 week conditioning period (CP). The CE...
High intensity exercise conditioning increases accumulated oxygen deficit of horses. High intensity exercise is associated with production of energy by both aerobic and anaerobic metabolism. Conditioning by repeated exercise increases the maximal rate of aerobic metabolism, aerobic capacity, of horses, but whether the maximal amount of energy provided by anaerobic metabolism, anaerobic capacity, can be increased by conditioning of horses is unknown. We, therefore, examined the effects of 10 weeks of regular (4-5 days/week) high intensity (92+/-3 % VO2max) exercise on accumulated oxygen deficit of 8 Standardbred horses that had been confined to box stalls for 12 weeks. Exercise...
Effects of conditioning horses with lactate-guided exercise on muscle glycogen content. The effects of 3 different conditioning programmes on muscle glycogen concentration in horses were examined. Speed of exercise was selected according to the blood lactate values for each horse derived from a standardised exercise test before beginning a conditioning programme. Six 2-year-old Haflinger stallions were assigned randomly to one of 3 conditioning programmes according to a 6 x 3 latin square design: 45 min at their individual v1.5 or v2.5 and 25 min at v4. Each conditioning programme lasted 6 weeks (21 exercise sessions), followed by 5 weeks without conditioning (resting period). Al...
Comparative learning theory and its application in the training of horses. Training can best be explained as a process that occurs through stimulus-response-reinforcement chains, whereby animals are conditioned to associate cues in their environment, with specific behavioural responses and their rewarding consequences. Research into learning in horses has concentrated on their powers of discrimination and on primary positive reinforcement schedules, where the correct response is paired with a desirable consequence such as food. In contrast, a number of other learning processes that are used in training have been widely studied in other species, but have received litt...
Sarcoplasmic reticulum responses to repeated sprints are affected by conditioning of horses. Sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) responses to repeated sprints and to physical conditioning were studied in 10 Quarter Horses. Exercise tests (four repeated sprints on a treadmill) were conducted before and after 12 wk of sprint conditioning. Muscle samples from the middle gluteal muscle were taken before and after each exercise test, and SR vesicles were isolated. Calcium uptake was determined spectrophotometrically using antipyrylazo III, and Ca2+-ATPase activity was determined using an enzyme-linked optical assay. Conditioning increased calcium uptake rate and Ca2+-ATPase activity by 14 and 38%,...
Exercise induced hormonal and metabolic changes in Thoroughbred horses: effects of conditioning and acepromazine. Nine Thoroughbred horses were assessed to determine the normal response of insulin, glucose, cortisol, plasma potassium (K) and erythrocyte K through conditioning and to exercise over 400 and 1,000 m. In addition, adrenaline, noradrenaline, cortisol, plasma K, erythrocyte K and L-lactate concentrations were evaluated in response to maximal exercise with and without the administration of acepromazine. Conditioning caused no obvious trends in plasma K, erythrocyte K, insulin or glucose concentration. Serum cortisol increased (P less than 0.05) from the initial sample at Week 1 to Weeks 4 and 5 (...
The effect of varying the temporal distribution of conditioning trials on equine learning behavior. Two experiments were conducted to study the effect of varying the temporal distrbution of conditioning sessions on equine learning behavior. In the first experiment, 15 ponies were trained to clear a small hurdle in response to a buzzer in order to avoid a mild electric shock. Three treatments were used. One group received 10 learning trials daily, seven times a week; one group was trained in the same fashion two times a week and one group was trained once a week. The animals conditioned only once a week achieved a high level of performance in significantly fewer sessions than the ones conditi...