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Home / Equine Research Bank / Animals (Basel) / The Welfare of Horses Competing in Three-Barrel Race Events ...
Animals : an open access journal from MDPI2024; 14(4); 583; doi: 10.3390/ani14040583

The Welfare of Horses Competing in Three-Barrel Race Events Is Shown to Be Not Inhibited by Short Intervals between Starts.

Abstract: Equestrian sports require precise animal welfare and health evaluations. To test the hypothesis that horses maintain their welfare when subjected to two three-barrel (3TB) races with 2 min intervals, an experiment was designed to evaluate their surface temperature using infrared thermography (IRT) in regions of interest (barrel, flank, neck, jaw, corner of the mouth, and ocular caruncle) and also measure blood biomarkers (hemogram, total plasma protein, fibrinogen, urea, creatinine, GGT, CK, cortisol, IL-6, and IL-1β). Ten Quarter Horses were monitored through thermography (pre-race, +1, +4, and +24 h post-race) and blood sampling (pre-race, +1, +4, and +24 h post-race). ANOVA and Tukey test at 5% were used. IRT in six regions of interest (Left/Right-barrel, flank, neck muscles) increased at +, with no differences between values recorded at +1 and +4 when compared to those measured pre-race ( > 0.05). Plasma protein, RBC count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, WBC count, neutrophils, and lymphocytes ( 0.05). Results indicate that well-conditioned 3TB horses subjected to two races at short intervals do not show changes that could be related to impaired health or welfare.
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Publication Date: 2024-02-09 PubMed ID: 38396551PubMed Central: PMC10886278DOI: 10.3390/ani14040583Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

This research investigates the welfare of horses competing in multiple three-barrel (3TB) races with short breaks in between, concluding that such events do not appear to harm the health or general wellbeing of the animals.

Study Design

  • The study was carried out to examine the impact of two consecutive 3TB horse races with a short, 2-minute interval between them on the welfare of the competing horses.
  • Ten Quarter Horses were used in this experiment. Their wellbeing was evaluated using infrared thermography (IRT) to measure the animals’ surface temperature in several regions of interest, namely the barrel, flank, neck, jaw, corner of the mouth, and ocular caruncle. Additionally, a range of blood biomarkers was analyzed.
  • These measures were taken at four instances: prior to the start of the races (pre-race), 1 hour after the race (+1), 4 hours post-race (+4), and 24 hours after the race (+24).

Key Findings

  • The researchers found that the IRT increased immediately after the race (+) in six regions of interest including the left and right paradernal region, flank, and neck muscles. However, there was no significant difference in the measurements recorded 1 and 4 hours after the race in comparison to the pre-race values. This suggests that surface temperature elevations due to the race are momentary and normalize within an hour.
  • The blood biomarkers showed a similar pattern. Certain metrics such as plasma protein, RBC count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, WBC count, neutrophils, and lymphocytes increased immediately after the race, but returned to normal levels within an hour.
  • Critical biomarkers related to stress and inflammation such as cortisol, IL-6, and IL-1β did not show any significant changes after the race. Typical increases in these markers would indicate physiological stress, inflammation, or potential harm to the animal.

Conclusion

  • The study concluded that well-conditioned Quarter Horses do not show any significant changes that would indicate impaired health or animal welfare, even when they are subjected to two 3TB races with only a short interval in between.
  • The rapid return to normal values after initial increases suggests that these physical activities do not cause lasting harm or distress to the animals, thus supporting the hypothesis that horse welfare is sustained in such race conditions.

Cite This Article

APA
Filho HCM, Trindade KLG, Silva CJFL, Cruz RKS, Vilela CF, Coelho CS, Filho JDR, Manso HECCC. (2024). The Welfare of Horses Competing in Three-Barrel Race Events Is Shown to Be Not Inhibited by Short Intervals between Starts. Animals (Basel), 14(4), 583. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14040583

Publication

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
ISSN: 2076-2615
NlmUniqueID: 101635614
Country: Switzerland
Language: English
Volume: 14
Issue: 4
PII: 583

Researcher Affiliations

Filho, Helio C Manso
  • Núcleo de Pesquisa Equina, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE), Recife 52171-900, PE, Brazil.
Trindade, Keity L G
  • Núcleo de Pesquisa Equina, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE), Recife 52171-900, PE, Brazil.
Silva, Carolina J F L
  • Núcleo de Pesquisa Equina, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE), Recife 52171-900, PE, Brazil.
Cruz, Raissa K S
  • Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Centro Universitário Cesmac, Maceió 57051-160, AL, Brazil.
Vilela, César F
  • Independent Researcher, Americana 13474-470, SP, Brazil.
Coelho, Clarisse S
  • Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development, Universidade de Évora, 7006-554 Évora, Portugal.
  • Veterinary and Animal Research Centre (CECAV), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Lusofona University, 376 Campo Grande, 1749-024 Lisbon, Portugal.
Filho, José D Ribeiro
  • Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa 36570-900, MG, Brazil.
Manso, Helena E C C C
  • Núcleo de Pesquisa Equina, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE), Recife 52171-900, PE, Brazil.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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