Survey of trainers on the use of swimming exercise for Standardbred racehorses in Australia

Abstract

Objectives To determine swimming training practices in Australian harness racing horses and potential targets for future research.Methods An online survey of Australian Standardbred trainers and telephone interviews with 20 leading trainers were conducted. Questions relating to swimming facility and protocol, perceived benefits and contraindications were included. Descriptive data analysis was performed.Results Data were collected from 270 trainers: 250 by online survey (250/1770, response rate 14.1%) and 20 by interview. Of these, 103 trainers (38.1%), including 91 surveyed trainers (91/250, 36.4%) and 12 interviewed trainers (12/20, 60.0%), used swimming exercise. The most popular reasons for swimming were to replace trackwork for horses with limb injuries (79.4%), improve or maintain fitness (62.7%) and provide mental stimulation through variety in training (40.0%). Free swimming (78.4%) was more common than tethered, but the frequency and duration for horses in full training varied widely between trainers, with a median of four swim sessions per horse each week (range 0.5-12) for a median of 7 min (range 1.5-30 min) per session, mostly as a continuous swim, but sometimes as intervals. The main reasons given by those not swimming horses were lack of an adequate facility (60.5%) and lack of perceived benefit (16.2%). Reasons for not swimming individual horses varied widely.Conclusions Trainer opinions and protocols varied widely with respect to swimming exercise for Standardbred race horses. The role of swimming exercise requires further study so that evidence-based recommendations can be made. a Differences between interview and surveyed groups assessed by Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney tests (non-normally distributed data). Count data between groups were assessed by chi-square tests. b Multiple responses could be selected to the question so percentages of trainers selecting each response may total > 100%.

Complete upper airway collapse and apnoea during tethered swimming in horses

“…Swimming is commonly used for racehorses in training but the findings of this study may raise concerns regarding health implications to swimming horses. Based on our observations, we would not recommend swimming horses with impaired upper airway function as they may be unable to fully protect their airway.…”

Kinematic Analysis During Straight Line Free Swimming in Horses: Part 2 - Hindlimbs

“…Historically, swimming has been used in racehorses for conditioning and rehabilitation purposes (1,2). Previous studies have investigated the cardiovascular (3,4), muscular (5,6), and respiratory (7,8) responses in horses during swimming.…”

In this issue – March 2019: Clinical review of feline viral diagnosis · Vaccination reactions in experimental sheep · Swimming excercise in Standardbreds · Bone fragments in young Thoroughbreds · Cefovecin in marsupials · Mycobacteriosis in captive brolgas

“…3 The authors surveyed 270 trainers on the use of swimming exercise for Standardbred racehorses in Australia. 3 The authors surveyed 270 trainers on the use of swimming exercise for Standardbred racehorses in Australia.…”

“…A much better understanding of the role of swimming in exercise for training is needed to determine if there are any benefits and this could be important for performance as well as welfare, according to the first of our equine papers this issue. 3 The authors surveyed 270 trainers on the use of swimming exercise for Standardbred racehorses in Australia. Data were collected online, and some were interviewed.…”