Dynamic Adaptation of Heart Rate and Autonomic Regulation During Training and Recovery Periods in Response to a 12-Week Structured Exercise Programme in Untrained Adult and Geriatric Horses.
Abstract: Changes in resting heart rate (HR) and HR variability (HRV) are utilised to assess training effects in horses. However, limited research has examined how these variables reflect training effects during exercise sessions and recovery periods, particularly in horses of different ages. This study investigated how HR and HRV changed during exercise sessions and recovery periods in untrained adult horses (UAHs; = 9) and geriatric horses (UGHs; = 9). HR and HRV were measured before and during a 54 min exercise bout over a 12-week training programme. Mixed-effects model with Greenhouse-Geisser correction was used for statistical analysis. The duration of elevated mean HR, sympathetic nervous system index, and stress index during the exercise sessions gradually decreased over the 12 weeks for both UAHs and UGHs. However, this decrease was faster in UAHs than in UGHs. Mean HR consistently decreased during the exercise sessions for both UAHs and UGHs over the 12 weeks. Furthermore, HRV returned to baseline faster in UAHs than in UGHs during the exercise bouts. These results indicate that the 12-week structured exercise programme positively influenced HR and HRV adaptation during exercise and recovery periods in UAHs and UGHs, with the adaptations differing dynamically between them.
Publication Date: 2025-04-13 PubMed ID: 40281956PubMed Central: PMC12024113DOI: 10.3390/ani15081122Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary
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This research aimed to study the changes in heart rate and heart rate variability during exercise and rest periods in untrained adult and elderly horses during a 12-week exercise program. The results showed a positive influence, with noticeable differences between adult and elderly horses in the rate and extent of heart rate adaptation to the exercise.
Objective and Methodology
- The research set out to examine how heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) changed during exercise and recovery periods in untrained adult horses (UAHs) and geriatric horses (UGHs). This was in an effort to better understand the physiological effects of training on horses of different ages.
- The study involved a total of eighteen horses, nine untrained adult horses and nine geriatric horses. Over the span of a 12-week structured exercise program, the HR and HRV of each horse was measured before, during and after a 54-minute exercise session.
- A statistical method known as the mixed-effects model with Greenhouse-Geisser correction was deployed to analyze the results.
Findings
- The findings demonstrated that the duration of elevated mean HR, sympathetic nervous system index, and stress index during exercise sessions gradually lessened throughout the 12-week period for both groups of horses.
- However, this decrease happened quicker in the untrained adult horses as compared to the geriatric horses. Furthermore, HRV, a crucial health indicator, returned to baseline much quicker in UAHs than in UGHs during the exercise sessions.
- Contrarily, the mean HR consistently decreased during the exercise sessions for both UAHs and UGHs throughout the 12 weeks. These findings suggest that both adult and geriatric horses exhibited improvements in their cardiovascular fitness over the exercise program.
Conclusion
- The overall results of the study affirm that the 12-week structured exercise program had positive effects on heart rate and heart rate variability during exercise and recovery periods in both untrained adult and geriatric horses.
- The study also revealed that the rate and extent of these beneficial adaptations to the exercise differed between adult and elderly horses, suggesting that factors like age and prior training status play an important role in how a horse’s body dynamically adapts to physical exercise.
Cite This Article
APA
Wonghanchao T, Sanigavatee K, Poochipakorn C, Huangsaksri O, Chanda M.
(2025).
Dynamic Adaptation of Heart Rate and Autonomic Regulation During Training and Recovery Periods in Response to a 12-Week Structured Exercise Programme in Untrained Adult and Geriatric Horses.
Animals (Basel), 15(8), 1122.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15081122 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Veterinary Clinical Studies Program, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus, Nakorn Pathom 73140, Thailand.
- Center for Veterinary Research and Innovation, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Bang Khen Campus, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.
- Department of Large Animal and Wildlife Clinical Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus, Nakorn Pathom 73140, Thailand.
- Veterinary Clinical Studies Program, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus, Nakorn Pathom 73140, Thailand.
- Center for Veterinary Research and Innovation, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Bang Khen Campus, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.
- Department of Large Animal and Wildlife Clinical Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus, Nakorn Pathom 73140, Thailand.
- Center for Veterinary Research and Innovation, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Bang Khen Campus, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.
- Department of Large Animal and Wildlife Clinical Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus, Nakorn Pathom 73140, Thailand.
- Veterinary Clinical Studies Program, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus, Nakorn Pathom 73140, Thailand.
- Center for Veterinary Research and Innovation, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Bang Khen Campus, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.
- Department of Large Animal and Wildlife Clinical Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus, Nakorn Pathom 73140, Thailand.
- Veterinary Clinical Studies Program, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus, Nakorn Pathom 73140, Thailand.
- Center for Veterinary Research and Innovation, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Bang Khen Campus, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.
- Department of Large Animal and Wildlife Clinical Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus, Nakorn Pathom 73140, Thailand.
Grant Funding
- N41A661096 and N41A661135 / National Research Council of Thailand
- VET.KU2024-03 and VET.KU2024-02 / the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University
Conflict of Interest Statement
The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in the study’s design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript writing, or decision to publish the results.
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