The use of heart rate (HR) monitors for horse training assessment under field conditions has been expanded because its use facilitates the understanding of horse fitness levels. Work has been carried out to determine the HR, velocity (V) and exercise time for pull and helper horses submitted to the Vaquejada simulation test (VST). The test was used on 70 Quarter Horses that had trained and competed for more than 6 months. The VST consists of two horses, a puller and a helper, and a bull, all running on a soft sand track. A race cycle consists of three runs with the bull. Pull horses run one cycle and helper horses run two cycles. A Polar V800-GPS HR monitor for equines was used to measure several parameters: time, V and HR. The results were analysed by ANOVA and a Tukey test with P set at 5%. It was shown that pull horses developed an HRmax of ~200 bpm and an HRmin ~110 bpm, both higher than the helper horses (P<0.05). However, the HRmed of pull horses (~150 bpm) and helper horses (~139 bpm) in C-2 trials were not substantially different from one another (P>0.05). Additionally, both groups of horses had similar maximum (~8.90 m/s) and average (~1.87 m/s) velocities (P>0.05). In analysing the distribution of HR among five rate categories, we determined that pull horses presented a higher percentage of their HR above 170 bpm in comparison to helper horses (P<0.05). It was concluded that, based on VST results, pull and helper horses presented different HRmax, HRmed and HRmin values, even when V and duration were similar, and that pull horses perform more intensive work than helper horses.

The Quarter-Horses regularly participate in non-traditional sports that simulate activities on cattle ranches. In the vaquejada races, the horses run at about 30 km/h, reaching maximum heart rates of around 200 bpm, indicating the great physical effort during competitions and with that could impact welfare. To test the hypothesis that vaquejada horses can be evaluated for the quality of welfare through a combination of non-invasive and invasive methods, an experiment was developed that aimed to assess the quality of welfare through thermography and blood biomarkers before and after vaquejada races. Ten vaquejada horses, which were in regular competition, were submitted to the vaquejadas racing test were used. Thermography was performed in 14 regions of interest (head, neck and thorax) in the following phases: pre-race and +1, +4 and +24 hours of the races. Blood samples were collected in pre-race, immediately after and +1, +4 and +24 hours of the races. Results were submitted to ANOVA and Tukey's test, with p set at 5%. Thermography showed that local temperatures before the race and +24 hours after the races were similar (p > 0.05), as well as between +1 and +4 hours after the races (p > 0.05), which showed higher surface temperatures than the first group (pre-race and +24 hours) (p < 0.05). There was also an increase in red blood cells, hemoglobin and hematocrit immediately after the vaquejada races (p < 0.05) with a return to normality +1 hour after the races. Plasma proteins rose after the runs and How to cite this paper: Silva, C.

RESUMO O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar macro e microscopicamente a atividade cicatrizante da Sphagneticola trilobata em feridas cutâneas induzidas em ratos, a partir da aplicação de creme contendo extrato hidroalcoólico bruto de folhas da planta. A análise fitoquímica apresentou terpenos e flavonoides como compostos majoritários. Sessenta ratos foram divididos em três grupos experimentais (n=20): grupo tratado (GT), grupo controle (GC) e grupo controle absoluto (GCA). Quatro feridas excisionais de 0,8cm de diâmetro foram realizadas no dorso dos animais, tratadas diariamente e avaliadas nos tempos três, sete, 14 e 21 dias de pós-operatório (PO) quanto à contração e à avaliação macroscópica, morfo-histológica e morfo-histométrica. Macroscopicamente, não houve diferença estatística na contração das feridas entre os grupos testados. Na avaliação morfológica e na morfométrica, o GT apresentou menor concentração de células inflamatórias, maior e melhor preenchimento do tecido de granulação pelas fibras colágenas e melhor vascularização das feridas. Não houve diferença entre o GC e o GCA. Conclui-se que o creme à base do extrato hidroalcoólico bruto das folhas de Sphagneticola trilobata contribui positivamente para o processo de cicatrização das feridas em pele de ratos.

148 Open Journal of Veterinary Medicine adaptation to physical exercise may enable the regulation of the acute response to stress in the tissues involved in the exercises, with no differences being observed in stress and health biomarkers, such as IL-6, IL-1β and cortisol. In conclusion, well-conditioned vaquejada horses exhibit a balanced regulation of biological processes, which contributes an increased athletic longevity and better quality of athletic life.

The aim of this study was to establish reference parameters for the hematological and biochemical levels of five healthy captive sloths of the speciesBradypus variegatus(brown-throated sloth) feeding onCecropia pachystachya(Ambay pumpwood), alternating with a period of free diet in the Dois Irmãos State Park (DISP) Recife, Pernambuco - Brazil.