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Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in milk, and lactation is associated with increased glutamine utilization both for milk synthesis and as a fuel for the enlarged small intestine. A number of recent studies have indicated that lactation is accompanied by a mild catabolic state in which skeletal muscle proteins are degraded to provide amino acids that are used to synthesize additional glutamine. In this study we tested the hypothesis that supplemental L-glutamine or the commercially available glutamine supplement Aminogut (2.5% by weight mixed into daily feed) provided to gilts from 30 days prior to parturition until 21 days post-parturition would prevent a decrease in skeletal muscle glutamine while increasing the glutamine content of the milk. Muscle glutamine content decreased (P < 0.05) in control animals during lactation but this was prevented by supplementation with either L-glutamine or Aminogut. In this study, neither lactation nor supplementation had any effect on plasma glutamine or glutamate content. Free glutamine, and the total glutamine plus glutamate concentrations in milk from the control and the Aminogut group rose (P < 0.05) during the first 7 days of lactation, with milk concentrations in the L-glutamine supplemented group showing a similar trend (P = 0.053). Milk glutamate remained constant between day 7 and 21 of lactation in the control and L-glutamine supplemented groups, but by day 21 of lactation the free glutamine, glutamate, and glutamine plus glutamate concentrations in milk from Aminogut-treated gilts were higher than those of control gilts. Thus dietary glutamine supplementation can alleviate the fall in intramuscular glutamine content during lactation in gilts, and may alleviate some of the catabolic effects of lactation. Furthermore, the increased milk glutamine content in the supplemented gilts may provide optimum nutrition for piglet development.

Summary Reasons for performing study: Conclusion:The simulation of field-test produced changes in some physiological and blood parameters in marcha horses, with some degree of dehydration during recovery period. Also, it was demonstrated that picada horses spend more energy when compared with batida horses at the the same speed. Potential relevance: Batida horses expend less energy when compared with picada horses, which will need special attention in their training and nutritional management.

These data demonstrate that KAATSU training can induce muscle hypertrophy in horses and suggest that KAATSU training may provide significant therapeutic/ rehabilitative value in horses, as has been shown in man.

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The objective of this study was to determine haematological variables (red blood cell count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration and coefficient of variation of the distribution curve of red blood cells) and blood biochemistry (total plasma proteins, fibrinogen, urea, creatinine, uric acid, total cholesterol and triglycerides) of pleasure horses. Therefore, we evaluated 46 Mangalarga Marchador horses, 32 males and 14 females at different ages (6.83±0.65 years). The animals were kept stabled at different pleasure horses training centers, which presented similar nutritional management and conditioning regimen. We evaluated the sex group (male and female) and age groups (younger than five years, between five and ten years, over ten years). The results indicated differences in the mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration related to sexual group (P<0,05), and in the variation of total serum protein concentration (P<0,05) related to the age groups. The results suggested that there are important differences in biochemical and hematological parameters in horse riding toward sex and age group, except for mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration and total plasma proteins concentration, which do not compromise physical performance of these animals

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.