The influence of jumping a course and running on a track on heart rate and blood values in warmblood show jumpers

Abstract

Exercise tests can be used in horses for a variety of reasons, including monitoring changes that occur with training, helping in devising training programs, comparing fitness levels between horses, predicting performance, or assessing functional capacity. This project was prompted by the little research that has been done thus far on the fitness of the warmblood jumping horse. In this study the effect of jumping a course and running on a racetrack at different speeds on heart rate, lactate, pCO2, pH and HCO3- were determined. Ten warmblood show jumping horses were tested at the same location. They were divided into two groups by their level of showing. All horses had to jump a standardized jumping course and had to do a standardized exercise test on the race track. This exercise test consisted of a warming up and running three times for 600 meters at speeds of 5, 8 and 11m/s. The Televet®, a telemetric ECG system, was used to maintain a steady speed and to record heart rate. After each run a blood sample was taken for the detection of the blood parameters. From the track data V200 (speed at a heart rate of 200 beats per minute), Vlac2 (speed producing a blood lactate level of 2 mmol/L) and Vlac4 (speed producing a lactate level of 4 mmol/L) were obtained. Blood samples were compared to the values at rest within one group and were further compared between the two performance levels. There was no significant difference in heart rate between the groups. The mean value for V200 for the jumping course was 11.062 +/- 1.17m/s. Values for Vlac2 and Vlac4 derived from the track data were 7.6 m/s and 9.2m/s respectively. The equation for lactate versus speed was lactate=0.0014V5.5744 There were marked changes in lactate level. Lactate rose significantly after the jumping course as well as after the bouts of running (5, 8 and 11m/s) on the track. Sixty minutes after jumping lactate had reduced substantially, but still remained higher than the baseline. Changes in the other blood values (bicarbonate, pCO2 and pH) were limited. In the higher performance group pCO2 was significantly higher after running at 11m/s. In that same group and sample, pH was significantly lower. It is concluded that in show jumping horses need their anaerobic metabolism on top of the oxidative system when they perform standard training work.