Comparison of exercise tests in French trotters under training track, racetrack and treadmill conditions.

The research explores the impact of different exercise surfaces on multiple factors in French trotters, including heart rate, blood lactate concentration, stride frequency and length, and gait symmetry. The study concluded that the exercise responses varied significantly between track and treadmill exercises.

Study Design

• Five 3-year-old French Trotters were studied, all of whom had been in training for three months prior to the study.
• These horses performed standardised exercise tests on different platforms: a training track, a racetrack, and an uninclined treadmill, all during the same week.
• Each surface’s influence on the horses’ physiological and locomotor variables was closely monitored to determine any discernible differences.

Procedure

• Three steps of three minutes each were performed at speeds of 490, 560, and 630 m/min for the first test on the training track.
• Tests two (racetrack) and three (treadmill) used the same speeds as test one and included a fourth step where the horses were accelerated for 30 seconds to a speed near their maximum.

Findings

• No notable differences were found between the two tracks when looking at the physical and locomotor variables.
• Conversely, significant differences were observed when comparing these two settings with the treadmill.
• Specifically, horses on the treadmill had lower heart rates and blood lactate response, reduced stride frequency, and displayed increased stride length and regularity.

Conclusion

• The results led the researchers to conclude that standardized exercise tests are repeatable on a variety of tracks, regardless of surface type and geometrical differences.
• However, both physiological and locomotor variables were different when treadmill exercises were compared to track ones.