Changes in some haematological and metabolic indices in young horses during the first year of jump-training.

The research article studies the effects of a year-long jump-training program on several blood indicators in young horses and finds that training does not significantly alter the changes caused by exercise, but resting lactate levels increase and pH levels decrease over the training year.

Study Overview

• The research investigates the impacts of an 18-minute exercise test conducted three times during a one-year jump-training program on seven horses. The tests measure a variety of indicators including packed cell volume, haemoglobin, total protein, lactate and pyruvate, glucose, free fatty acids, insulin, glucagon, blood gases, bicarbonate, pH, aldolase, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine amino-transferase from venous blood samples.

Effects of Exercise

• The exercise was observed to cause a slight increase in lactate and pyruvate, total protein, aldolase, alanine aminotransferase, pO2, bicarbonate, and pH levels.
• Meanwhile, the levels of glucose, free fatty acids and pCO2 were seen to decrease following exercise.

Influence of Training

• The research found that the training program did not cause a significant difference in the changes brought about by the exercise tests.
• The training however, over the course of the year, did cause observable changes in lactate and pH levels when the horses were at rest. Specifically, the lactate levels increased and the pH levels decreased.

Conclusions

• The results of this study imply that while exercise protocols can influence the blood profiles of young horses, consistent training over the span of a year does not significantly augment these changes induced by exercise.
• The most noticeable long-term change due to training was the rise in resting lactate levels and the fall in resting pH levels and these changes should be further scrutinized in future studies to understand their implications in equine health and performance.