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Home / Equine Research Bank / BMC Vet Res / A prospective study on a cohort of horses and ponies selecte...
BMC veterinary research2013; 9; 182; doi: 10.1186/1746-6148-9-182

A prospective study on a cohort of horses and ponies selected for participation in the European Eventing Championship: reasons for withdrawal and predictive value of fitness tests.

Abstract: Eventing is generally recognized as a challenging equestrian discipline and wastage figures for this discipline are relatively high. There is a need for information that provides insight into the causes of wastage and withdrawal from competition, for animal welfare and economic reasons. The aim of the present investigation was to conduct a prospective study following the entire national selection of event horses (n = 20) and ponies (n = 9) in the Netherlands that prepared for the European Championship in 2010 (ponies) and 2011 (horses), noting causes of withdrawal and monitoring fitness using standardized exercise tests (SETs), with heart rate (HR; beats/min), speed (V; m/s) and plasma lactate concentrations (LA; mmol/L) as measured parameters. Results: In SET-I, performed at the beginning of the season, horses (n = 17) had a mean VLA4 (V at LA 4 mmol/L) of 10.3 ± 0.4 m/s with a mean V200 (V at 200 beats/min) of 11.4 ± 0.8 m/s and ponies (n = 9) a mean VLA4 of 7.8 ± 0.9 m/s and V200 of 9.6 ± 0.7 m/s. Before SET-II, performed six weeks before the European Championship, 16/20 horses and 6/9 ponies were withdrawn. The most common reason for withdrawal was locomotor injury (9/16 horses, 4/6 ponies; P < 0.001 and P = 0.011, respectively). Other reasons included an animal 'not meeting the competition criteria' (4/16 horses, 2/6 ponies) and being sold (3/16 horses). Animals were divided on the basis of VLA4 and recovery-HR during SET-I into good and average performers. Average performers were significantly more likely to be injured (50.0%) than good performers (0%, P = 0.05). In a subpopulation of ten horses, in which all condition training sessions were evaluated for HR and speed, HRpeak was significantly lower in horses that stayed sound (186 ± 9 beats/min) compared with horses withdrawn from training and competition because of injury (201 ± 5 beats/min; P = 0.016). Conclusions: Of the national selection, 45% of all animals were unavailable for the European Championship because of locomotor injuries. Field tests were useful in assessing the potential injury risk, as individuals with better fitness indices (good performers) were less likely to become injured than average performers. Furthermore, monitoring of training sessions showed predictive value for future injuries, as horses withdrawn because of injury later on showed already higher peak HRs during condition training than horses that stayed sound. Therefore the increase in peak HR seemed to precede visible lameness in a horse.
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Publication Date: 2013-09-13 PubMed ID: 24034152PubMed Central: PMC3848563DOI: 10.1186/1746-6148-9-182Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary

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The research article describes a prospective study on event horses and ponies in the Netherlands, examining the causes of their withdrawal from the European Eventing Championship and identifying the value of fitness tests in predicting withdrawal.

Study Overview

  • The study followed the entire national selection of event horses (20) and ponies (9) in the Netherlands leading up to the European Championship in 2010 and 2011, respectively.
  • It recorded the reasons for withdrawal from the competition and monitored fitness levels using standardized exercise tests (SETs).
  • The SETs evaluated the horses and ponies in several parameters, including heart rate, speed, and plasma lactate concentrations.

Results from First Fitness Test – SET-I

  • Initial fitness test results indicated varying average speed and heart rate measurements in horses compared to ponies.
  • However, by the second fitness test performed six weeks before the championship, a significant number of both horses and ponies had been withdrawn.

Reasons for Withdrawal

  • The most common reason for withdrawal was a locomotion-related injury, which affected a higher percentage of horses than ponies.
  • Other reasons for withdrawal included not meeting competition criteria or being sold.

Performance and Injury Risk

  • Horses and ponies were further grouped into good and average performers based on standard exercise test results. It was observed that average performers had higher chances of getting injured as compared to good performers.
  • Further evaluation on a smaller group of horses showed that horses with a lower peak heart rate during training were less likely to be withdrawn due to injury.

Conclusions

  • The study concluded that a considerable proportion (45%) of the selected animals could not participate in the European Championship due to locomotor injuries.
  • Field tests served as good predictors of potential injury risks, with the observation that individuals with notably higher fitness levels (good performers) had lower chances of getting injured.
  • Monitoring of training sessions also provided insight into future injuries, with horses withdrawn due to injury later recorded as having higher peak heart rates during training compared to those who remained sound.
  • It is noteworthy that the rise in peak heart rates appeared to be an early indicator of visible lameness in a horse.

Cite This Article

APA
Munsters CC, van den Broek J, Welling E, van Weeren R, van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan MM. (2013). A prospective study on a cohort of horses and ponies selected for participation in the European Eventing Championship: reasons for withdrawal and predictive value of fitness tests. BMC Vet Res, 9, 182. https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-6148-9-182

Publication

BMC veterinary research
ISSN: 1746-6148
NlmUniqueID: 101249759
Country: England
Language: English
Volume: 9
Pages: 182

Researcher Affiliations

Munsters, Carolien C B M
  • Department of Equine Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 114, 3584 CM Utrecht, the Netherlands. carolien@munsters.nl.
van den Broek, Jan
    Welling, Emile
      van Weeren, René
        van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan, Marianne M Sloet

          MeSH Terms

          • Animals
          • Horses / physiology
          • Physical Conditioning, Animal / physiology
          • Predictive Value of Tests
          • Sports

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          Citations

          This article has been cited 9 times.
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          3. Martins JN, Silva SR. Use of Infrared Thermography to Assess Body Temperature as a Physiological Stress Indicator in Horses during Ridden and Lunging Sessions.. Animals (Basel) 2022 Nov 23;12(23).
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