Practical assessment of heart rate response to exercise under field conditions

Abstract

Regular monitoring of the heart rate (HR):speed relationship may help evaluate response to training and aid in the early detection of problems. This relationship is normally determined using a treadmill or via a ridden test conducted outside on a track. Simple practical alternative methods to obtain this relationship without access to a treadmill or a track could be of value in the field. To evaluate whether the HR:speed relationship could be determined via an indoor ridden test or a lunge test, HR was monitored on two occasions at least 3 h apart, in 12 adult horses (mixed breed) in a familiar environment during a 5 or 7 m radius circle lunge (unridden) test (5LT or 7LT) and an incremental (ridden) test (RT) on the same day. The RT comprised two ridden laps of the perimeter of a 60 £ 40 m indoor school at walk, three laps at trot, three at medium canter and four at fast canter (all on the right rein). The speed of each lap was recorded. The LT comprised lunging for 2 min on each rein at walk, trot and canter. Speed was determined from the number of laps completed and measurement of the distance travelled. HR and speed were highly correlated in both lunge and ridden tests (both r ¼ 0.99^0.01). V 140 on the ridden test (5.2^0.6 m s 21 ) was significantly greater than on the pooled lunge test data (4.4^0.6; P , 0.0001). There was a negative correlation between recovery HR at 2 min following either the LT or RT and V 140 (P , 0.05). The slope of the HR versus speed relationship and V 140 were not different between RT and 7LT, but were significantly different from those of the 5LT (P , 0.05). V 140 was always lower on the lunge tests compared with the ridden test. This suggests that, in this study, lunging without a rider increased the metabolic demand above that for being ridden at a similar speed. V 140 determined by the 7LT gave the closest approximation to the V 140 determined by the RT. The HR:speed relationship can be obtained either from riding an incremental test in an indoor school or from an unridden lunge test.

Effects of β-Hydroxy-β-Methylbutyrate and γ-Oryzanol on Blood Biochemical Markers in Exercising Thoroughbred Race Horses

“…The data indicated that our methods used for training the Thoroughbreds under field conditions were satisfactory for maximization of physiological adaptations within the animal's body. HRs at rest ranged from 32 to 37 beats/min and were similar to the values obtained by Harris et al [18]. Peak HRs during cantering/galloping were approximately 200 beats/min and remained the same during both the training and the racing seasons.…”

A comparison of the response of equine heart rate to different equine exercise regimes

“…Effects of excitability cannot be ruled out; expectation may explain the higher basal HR for TRT 4 and 5. Excitability can notably affect results when HR values are below 160 bpm (Harris et al, 2007). Horses 1 and 5 had significantly different HR (P<0.05) (data not shown).…”

“…Basal HR was significantly higher during TRT 4 and 5, (table 1). Different ground surfaces, (Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Osterbaan and Barnevald, 1995), different energy needs for different activities (Lawrence, 1997), or environmental factors (Harris et al, 2007) are a few possible reasons for the differences in average and basal HR measured. Effects of excitability cannot be ruled out; expectation may explain the higher basal HR for TRT 4 and 5.…”

“…Although horses used were of similar fitness levels, a detailed assessment of fitness may be beneficial in future work. With advancement in technology available for equine cardiovascular research, such as the use of global positioning systems, (Harris et al, 2007), methods of assessing equine fitness and response to exercise will continue to improve and become more accessible for all members of the equine industry in the future.…”

“…It is know that equine HR increases linearly with workload (Harris et al, 2007) but the relationship between HR and exercise is usually determined using an equine treadmill, or a test completed on a track, access to which is often limited. Simple alternative methods which are highly reproducible and easy to complete could be of value.…”