Abstract
BackgroundA greater understanding of exercise physiology and biochemistry is required for the sport horse disciplines, including show jumping. Conditioning of horses for show jumping is empirical because they are primarily trained on flat ground, however the equivalent workload between jumping and flat work is currently unknown. The objectives of the study were therefore to compare the physiological demands of Warmblood show jumpers over a standardized 1.10 m course vs a 600 m standardized incremental exercise test on flat ground, and to report reference field test values for competitive show jumping horses. In this prospective field study, 21 healthy, actively competing Warmblood show jumping horses were assessed to determine physiological variables after a standardized jumping course at 6.4 m/s (average speed) and track standardized incremental exercise test at 5 m/s, 8 m/s and 11 m/s. Heart rate, velocity, blood lactate, blood pH, pCO2, bicarbonate, PCV and TP concentrations were recorded. V200, V170 and VLa4 were calculated. Parametric statistics were performed on analysis of all 21 horses’ variables.ResultsContrary to exercise at 5 m/s and 11 m/s, cantering at 8 m/s did not induce any significant difference in blood lactate, mean heart rate or mean venous blood pH compared to after completion of the jumping course.ConclusionsJumping a 1.10 m course demands a statistically similar workload to cantering around a flat track at 8 m/s. This study will help to test fitness and design conditioning programs for Warmblood show jumping horses.
Highlights
A greater understanding of exercise physiology and biochemistry is required for the sport horse disciplines, including show jumping
Mean values for the heart rate obtained during the track standardized exercise test were plotted as a function of velocity, enabling the calculation of V200 and V170 (Fig. 1)
The comparison between the two types of standardized exercise on a relatively high number of horses allowed for the description of exercise physiology variables (V200, V170, and VLa4) and for comparison of the metabolic response of Warmblood showjumpers on the track at set speeds versus their jumping effort on a 1.10 m course
Summary
A greater understanding of exercise physiology and biochemistry is required for the sport horse disciplines, including show jumping. Conditioning of horses for show jumping is empirical because they are primarily trained on flat ground, the equivalent workload between jumping and flat work is currently unknown. The objectives of the study were to compare the physiological demands of Warmblood show jumpers over a standardized 1.10 m course vs a 600 m standardized incremental exercise test on flat ground, and to report reference field test values for competitive show jumping horses. Variables commonly used to evaluate equine fitness under field conditions include heart rate (HR), packed cell volume (PCV), total. As the equivalent workload between jumping and flat work is currently unknown, conditioning of these horses is empirical. It is necessary to understand the equivalent exercise intensity between show jumping and flat work to condition jumpers properly
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