Physiological responses and agreement between two traditional lunging protocols for physical fitness training in untrained ponies.

The research article investigates the physiological responses and degree of agreement in different lunging training methods for untrained ponies. Findings demonstrate that lunging can trigger high physiological responses and both training methods elicited similar results.

Study Overview

• The study aimed to understand how untrained ponies respond physically to different lunging training methods and to assess how well these methods agreed in their effects on the ponies.
• Sixteen untrained ponies were employed in the study. Each underwent two types of lunging programs: on a lunge line and in a round pen. There was a two-day interval between the sessions.

Measures and Methods

• Several parameters were examined during the study: heart rate variability (HRV) and effort intensity (determined as a percentage of maximum heart rate (%HRmax)) before, during, and at 30-minute intervals for 120 minutes after lunging.
• The running speed and distance covered by the ponies were also recorded.
• The heart rate variability parameters including SDNN, RMSSD, LF, HF, SD1, and SD2 were scrutinized, and the correlation and agreement between the two lunging methods were analyzed.

Findings

• Findings indicate that ponies ran faster and covered longer distances during exercise performed on a lunge line than in a round pen.
• The effort intensity during cantering reached moderate levels (75.10 ± 2.39 % HRmax) with occasional spikes up to high-intensity levels (88.07 ± 1.29 % HRmax) under both lunging procedures.
• The lowest HRV was recorded during cantering, but it reverted to the baseline 120 minutes after lunging.
• The HRV parameters presented a strong correlation (r ≥ 0.97 and p 0.85) and excellent agreement (average differences were within mean ± 1.96 SD) between the two lunging methods.
• The authors concluded that lunging can evoke high physiological responses in untrained ponies, and both lunging methods demonstrated excellent connection and stimulated similar physiological responses in the ponies.