Topic:Treadmill Exercise
Treadmill exercise for horses involves the use of a controlled mechanical platform to simulate various gaits and intensities of physical activity. This form of exercise allows for consistent and measurable training conditions, which can be used for rehabilitation, fitness assessment, and performance enhancement. Treadmill exercise facilitates the study of equine locomotion, respiratory function, and cardiovascular response under standardized conditions. It is also utilized in research to evaluate the effects of different training regimens and to investigate metabolic and physiological responses to exercise. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the methodology, applications, and implications of treadmill exercise in equine practice.
Kinematics of treadmill versus overground locomotion in horses. A kinematic analysis was carried out to compare treadmill and overground locomotion in horses at the trot. Stride variables and limb and trunk movements of 10 Dutch Warmblood horses were measured using the CODA-3 gait analysis system. Overground recordings were made on a rubber ground surface and on an asphalt track. Treadmill recordings were taken after a controlled habituation programme and at the same velocities as measured overground. On asphalt, a shorthened stride duration and a decreased vertical displacement of the withers were found compared with those on rubber ground. On the treadmi...
The effect of toe weights on linear and temporal stride characteristics of standardbred trotters. Toe weights are applied to influence the stride characteristics of trotters. The quantitative effect of 88-g toe weights on the stride characteristics of Standardbred trotters was evaluated in a kinematic study using a CODA-3 analysis system. Six trotters were studied at a speed of 11 m/s on a treadmill. Temporal gait variables, joint angles, and the trajectories of the forelimb hoof were calculated. The stride patterns of the individual trotters were assessed by a judge and compared to the CODA-output. Those trotters with poor flexion of the carpal joint during the swing phase or with insuffi...
Tidal breathing flow-volume loop analysis as a test of pulmonary function in exercising horses. The usefulness of tidal breathing flow-volume loops (TBFVL) to evaluate pulmonary function was investigated in 6 Standardbreds during treadmill exercise. Tidal breathing flow-volume loops are a graphic representation of airflow rate vs tidal volume for each individual breath. These TBFVL were obtained from horses exercising at speeds corresponding to 75 and 100% of maximum heart rate. Measurements were recorded in each horse before and after ovalbumin-induced allergic lung disease. Moderate obstructive lung disease, characterized by a significant increase in pulmonary resistance, was observed ...
Kinematic detection of superior gait quality in young trotting warmbloods. This study was conducted to identify objective criteria to select young horses with a good gait, which is a prerequisite for good performance in adult horses. The trot of 24 26-month-old Dutch Warmbloods, led on a loose shank, was subjectively scored by a judge and objectively assessed on a treadmill by using kinematic analysis equipment. It appeared that forelimb and hind limb stride and swing duration, scapula rotation, forelimb maximal fetlock extension, forelimb maximal retraction, hind limb maximal protraction, maximal stifle flexion, and maximal tarsal flexion significantly correlated wi...
Diaphragm and lung afferents contribute to inspiratory load compensation in awake ponies. We determined the effect of pulmonary vagal (hilar nerve) denervation (HND) and diaphragm deafferentation (DD) on inspiratory load compensation. We studied awake intact (I; n = 10), DD (n = 5), HND (n = 4), and DD+HND (n = 7) ponies at rest and during mild (1.8 mph, 5% grade) and moderate (1.8 mph, 15% grade) treadmill exercise before, during, and after resistance of the inspiratory circuit was increased from approximately 1.5 to approximately 20 cmH2O.l-1.s. During the first loaded breath in I ponies at rest, inspiratory time (TI) increased, expiratory time decreased, and inspiratory drive in...
Effects of echinocytosis on hemorrheologic values and exercise performance in horses. Effects of echinocytosis on blood rheology and exercise performance were evaluated for 5 Thoroughbreds. Echinocytosis was induced by administration of furosemide (1 mg/kg of body weight, IM, q 12 h) for 4 days. Furosemide treatment resulted in decreases in serum sodium and serum chloride concentrations and in RBC chloride and potassium concentrations. Echinocytosis was associated with increased RBC density as determined by RBC density gradient centrifugation. However, samples containing echinocytes were more filterable than control samples, indicating that echinocytes were not rigid cells. Ery...
[Effect of the time of sample collection after exertion and the specimen handling on the lactate content in the blood of horses]. The mean maximal lactate concentration of horses after exercise (Lamax) amounted to 4.5 +/- 2.2 mmol/l for gallop workouts of less than 11 m/s and more than 180 s (n = 35; category A), at more than 11 m/s and less than 180 s duration (n = 17; category B) to 16.3 +/- 4.8 mmol/l and at less than 11 m/s and less than 180 s duration (n = 10; category C) to 4.6 +/- 1.6 mmol/l. Lamax was always measured immediately after exercise following exercise of categories A and C. But for exercise bouts of category B Lamax was measured between the first and the tenth minute after exercise. Following exercise ...
Effect of furosemide on plasma atrial natriuretic peptide and aldosterone concentrations and renin activity in running horses. Effects of furosemide administration on exertion-induced changes in plasma renin activity and plasma concentrations of atrial natriuretic peptide and aldosterone in horses during sustained submaximal exertion were examined. Furosemide (1 mg/kg of body weight) or heparinized saline solution was administered IV to each of 6 mares not conditioned to exercise, either 4 hours or 2 minutes before 60 minutes of sustained submaximal running on a treadmill. Horses ran at a speed that induced heart rate approximately 65% of maximal after saline treatment. After 15 minutes of running, furosemide suppress...
Mechanisms of exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage in the equine athlete. This article discusses exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH), a pathophysiological syndrome which occurs worldwide in the equine athlete. It reviews the history of EIPH, the incidence in performance horses, the etiology, studies performed on the treadmill to determine the mechanisms of EIPH, and the most likely causes of stress failure of the pulmonary capillaries.
The effects of exercise training on serum gastrin responses in the horse. Gastroendoscopic surveys have shown that horses in race training have a greater prevalence of gastric ulceration than sedentary horses. To determine if exercise affects gastric endocrine function the following experiment was performed. Four horses were fed total mixed ration of ground corn and chopped hay at 2% of their body weight, divided into 2 equal portions, daily. Horses were fasted overnight, and serum gastrin concentration was determined just before and 2 hours after feeding. The horses were then sprint trained on a high speed treadmill for 6 weeks. The response of serum gastrin to fee...
Influence of air movement, facemask design and exercise on upper airway, transpulmonary, and transdiaphragmatic pressures in thoroughbred horses. The influences of facial airflow, exercise and wearing a facemask on gas exchange and upper airway (Pu), transpulmonary (PTP) and transdiaphragmatic (PTD) pressures were investigated in 6 horses performing an incremental exercise test on an inclined (10%) treadmill. The test consisted of a 2 min walk followed by two 2 min exercise bouts at intensities which produced 40% and 80% of maximal oxygen consumption. Horses performed the test 4 times, once for each of 4 protocols, which involved not wearing a facemask (A), wearing a mask with either no biased flow through it (B), with an expiratory bia...
Exercise-induced connective tissue turnover and lipid peroxidation in horses. Four unfit thoroughbred horses were exercised on a treadmill twice, 5 weeks apart. Exercise consisted of stepwise increments in treadmill speed up to a maximum of 12 m s-1 and then maintained at this speed until the horses were fatigued. Two of the horses were administered phenylbutazone (4.4 mg kg-1) intravenously immediately before the first exercise period and the other two horses immediately before the second exercise period. Clinical observation revealed stiffness of gait and palpable soreness over the lumbar-sacral region in the horses 24 h after the exercise concluded. Mean plasma aspar...
Cardio-respiratory, haematological and biochemical parameter adjustments to exercise: effect of a probiotic in horses during training. Two randomly distributed groups of thoroughbred horses were compared during a 12-week period for their cardio-respiratory and metabolic adjustment to strenuous exercise, training and detraining. The horses were trained following the same standardized schedule and were regularly investigated using standardized treadmill exercise tests (SET) of increasing speed. After the first SET and during the whole experimental period, a group of 6 horses received a probiotic (Bioracing) once a day while a group of 5 horses received a placebo. All other conditions were similar for both groups. During each SE...
Assessment of drug effects on performance. Few definitive studies have been performed that unequivocally demonstrate the ability of a drug to alter the performance of a horse. Nonetheless, the use of drugs in competing horses is regulated worldwide. Drugs have been categorized according to their abuse potential. However, there is still some confusion over what is meant by the terms "performance" and "drug." In the racing community, performance means speed, and fatigue and pain are among its greatest detractors. Speed is most appropriately measured on the racetrack. There are a multiplicity of internal and external variables that influe...
Feeding status affects glucose metabolism in exercising horses. Four standardbred horses were used in a Latin square design experiment to evaluate the effects of feeding status on metabolic response to exercise. Horses were deprived of food overnight and then fed 0 (control condition), 1, 2 or 3 kg of corn grain approximately 2.5-3 h before exercise. The exercise test consisted of a warm-up phase (heart rate mean = 144 beats/min) followed by 800 m of walking and then a high intensity work bout for 1600 m (heart rate mean = 206 beats/min). All tests were conducted on a high speed equine treadmill on which the horses had been previously conditioned. During e...
Effects of cocaine on incremental treadmill exercise in horses. Four mature horses were used to test the effects of two doses (50 and 200 mg) of intravenously administered cocaine on hemodynamics and selected indexes of performance [maximal heart rate (HRmax), treadmill velocity at HRmax, treadmill velocity needed to produce a blood lactate concentration of 4 mmol/l, maximal mixed venous blood lactate concentration, maximal treadmill work intensity, and test duration] measured during an incremental treadmill test. Both doses of cocaine increased HRmax approximately 7% (P < 0.05). Mean arterial pressure was 30 mmHg greater (P < 0.05) during the 4- to ...
Accumulation of allantoin and uric acid in plasma of exercising trotters. Plasma concentrations of hypoxanthine, uric acid, and allantoin, which are breakdown products of adenine nucleotides, were measured in Standardbred and Finnhorse trotters during and after an exercise test on a high-speed treadmill, after an incremental exercise test performed on a racetrack, and after a racing competition. Fiber-type composition of the middle gluteal muscle and the muscle concentrations of adenine nucleotides and inosine monophosphate were measured after the racetrack test. Changes in the concentration of hypoxanthine were not observed in any of the tests. Peak concentration o...
Training-induced modifications in cardiorespiratory and ventilatory measurements in thoroughbred horses. The effects of training and detraining on ventilation during a standardised exercise test were investigated. Ten healthy Thoroughbred horses underwent 5 standardised treadmill exercise tests (SET): SET1, at the start of the experimental period; SET2, after 3 weeks acclimatisation; SET3, after 3 week of aerobic training; SET4 after 3 weeks of anaerobic (i.e. interval) training; and SET5, after 3 weeks of detraining. The SETs were carried out in an air-conditioned laboratory on a treadmill inclined at 6 degrees. Respiratory airflow, tidal volume (VT), respiratory frequency (RF) and expired minut...
Metabolic response to standardised exercise test in standardbred trotters with red cell hypervolaemia. Plasma concentrations of lactate, amino acids, ammonia and products of purine catabolism were studied before, during and after a standardised incremental exercise test in 29 Standardbred trotters admitted to the clinic for exercise tolerance testing. According to their red cell volume the horses were divided into red cell normovolaemic and red cell hypervolaemic (polycythaemic) groups. The exercise-response curve for taurine differed significantly in the two groups, whereas all the other amino acids behaved similarly. The [branched-chain amino acid]/[alanine] ratio, a proposed indicator for th...
Correlation of racing performance with blood lactate and heart rate after exercise in thoroughbred horses. At 2 and 5 mins after an 800-m gallop, venous blood was collected from 26 Thoroughbred racehorses for measurement of blood lactate concentration, packed cell volume (PCV) and haemoglobin concentration. In addition, 14 racehorses were given a strenuous submaximal treadmill exercise test. Heart rates during and after exercise at 10 m/sec on a treadmill inclined at 5 degrees were recorded. Blood samples at 2 and 5 mins after exercise were used to measure PCV, blood and plasma lactate and ammonia concentrations. Results of each exercise test were compared with the retrospective performance of hors...
Furosemide magnifies the exercise-induced elevation of plasma vasopressin concentration in horses. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that furosemide administration before exercise would cause greater increases in plasma arginine vasopressin (AVP) concentration in exercising horses than exercise alone. Six adult, clinically normal, unfit mares underwent three randomly ordered 60 minute standard exercise tests on an equine treadmill to examine the effect of furosemide administration on plasma AVP concentration. In one trial, furosemide (1 mg kg-1) was infused four hours before exercise (FUR-4) and a placebo (10 ml saline) was infused two minutes before exercise; in another ...
Effects of hylan on amphotericin-induced carpal lameness in equids. In this double-blind study, the effectiveness of and dose response to intra-articular administration of modified hyaluronan (hylan) was determined in an equine carpal lameness model over a 23-day period, using a computerized three-dimensional motion analysis system, synovial fluid variables, and synovial histologic examination. In 24 clinically sound horses, baseline motion data was acquired from horses trotting at 4 m/s on a high-speed treadmill. Then, to induce lameness, 25 mg of amphotericin B in 5 ml of sterile water was injected into the left middle carpal joint of each horse every other ...
Effect of furosemide and weight carriage on energetic responses of horses to incremental exertion. The effect of furosemide-induced weight loss on the energetic responses of horses to running was examined in a 3-way crossover study. Eight 2- to 3-year-old Standardbred mares received, in random order, 10 ml of saline solution 4 hours before running on a treadmill (control trial, C); or, during 2 trials, 1 mg of furosemide/kg of body weight, i.v., 4 hours before running. During one of the trials when the horses received furosemide, they carried weight equal to that lost over the 3.75 hours after furosemide administration while running (furosemide-loaded, FL), and during the other trial they d...
Computer-assisted three-dimensional gait analysis of amphotericin-induced carpal lameness in horses. Motion of 6 clinically sound horses trotting at a speed of 4 m/s on a treadmill was captured by video cameras before and 9, 16, and 23 days after amphotericin-induced lameness to determine the quantitative variables of three-dimensional computer-assisted image analysis that objectively describe carpal lameness. Amphotericin-B was used to induce lameness, and phenylbutazone (2.2 mg/kg of body weight, PO, once) and butorphanol tartrate (0.1 mg/kg IM, q 6 h, to effect) were used to control discomfort. Four 60-Hz cameras were symmetrically placed around the treadmill to capture 6 seconds of images...
Determination of the optimal treadmill slope for reproducing the same cardiac response in saddle horses as overground exercise conditions. The purpose of this study was to define the most suitable treadmill slope for reproducing the same heart rate response as in horses being ridden on a track. Seven French saddle horses were exercised first on a level turf track and then on a treadmill. On the track the exercise test consisted of four periods of three minutes of increasing speeds at the trot and the gallop (96 to 600 m/minute). The treadmill exercise tests consisted of seven steps of increasing slope (0 to 9.6 per cent) at the trot (252 m/minute), followed, after an active recovery period at the walk with a 0 per cent slope, by ...
Role of decreased plasma volume in hematocrit alterations during incremental treadmill exercise in horses. Six intact (IN) and six splenectomized (SP) mares were subjected to an incremental exercise test to examine the role of decreases in plasma volume (PV) in the changes in hematocrit (Hct) normally seen with exercise. Each horse underwent an incremental exercise test in which it ran on a treadmill up a fixed incline of 6 degrees. The test started at a speed of 4 m/s, and speed was increased 1 m/s each min until heart rate reached a plateau. Blood samples were obtained at rest and at the end of the 4, 5, 6, and 7 m/s steps of the exercise test. Resting PV was greater (P < 0.05) in the IN group...
Splenectomy alters blood pressure response to incremental treadmill exercise in horses. Six intact (IN) and five splenectomized (SP) mares were subjected to an incremental exercise test to examine the effects of splenectomy on blood pressure responses during exercise. During the test the horses ran up a 6 degree grade on a treadmill set at an initial speed of 4 m/s. Speed was increased 1 m/s every 1 min until heart rate (HR) reached a plateau. Hemodynamic data were collected continuously and analyzed for the last 18 s of the 4, 5, 6, and 7 m/s steps of the exercise test. There were no differences (P > 0.05) between the groups for resting means for any parameter measured in the...
Stride length and respiratory tidal volume in exercising thoroughbred horses. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that locomotor-respiratory coupling in horses may provide a basis for the appropriate matching of lung ventilation to running speed and metabolic power. This was achieved by determining the effect on respiratory frequency and tidal volume in thoroughbred horses of changing running speed while maintaining a constant metabolic demand by also varying the incline of the treadmill. This procedure was performed at three different speeds at two different levels of metabolic rate. It appears that, in response to metabolic demands which are not direc...
The effect of roughage source on exercise performance and metabolism in thoroughbred horses. The effects of roughage source on metabolism and exercise capacity were investigated using 6, previously conditioned, mature thoroughbred horses in a cross-over experiment. The horses were assigned to either non-alfalfa or alfalfa roughage diets which were isocaloric. The diets were fed for 2 weeks, after which the horses were exercise tested and then fed the alternate diet. Horses were exercised on a high-speed treadmill using a rapid incremental test. Arterial blood samples were collected for blood gas analysis and acid base measurements and venous blood samples for lactate and red blood cel...
Furosemide attenuates the exercise-induced increase in pulmonary artery wedge pressure in horses. Right atrial (RA), right ventricular (RV), pulmonary artery (PA), and pulmonary artery wedge (PAW) pressures were examined, using catheter-mounted micromanometers, in 8 healthy horses at rest and during galloping on a treadmill at belt speeds of 8, 10, and 13 m/s. The in vivo signals from the micromanometers were matched with those from conventional fluid-filled catheter transducers leveled at the scapulohumeral joint. Thirty minutes after completing control exercise measurements, furosemide was administered IV at a dosage of 1 mg/kg of body weight, and resting, as well as exercise, measuremen...