Effect of detraining on indices of performance and their correlation with athletic ability of polo horses

Abstract

Eight mixed-breed polo horses performed standard exercise tests (SETs) before and after a 4 month detraining period to assess the effect of reduced activity on heart rate (HR), plasma lactate, the velocity (V La4 ) and work rate (W La4 ) at which plasma lactate reaches a concentration of 4 mmol/l, peak packed cell volume (PCV peak ), stride frequency and length, and body weight (BW). Additionally, 3 horses devoid of any conditioning for over a year were tested to compare the effect of long-term detraining. Paired t-tests were used to compare variables measured during the fit and detrained SETs. Plasma lactate concentration, PCV peak , stride frequency (at 9.5 and 11.0 m/s), and BWwere increased (P<0.05) and V La4 , W La4 , and stride length (at 9.5 and 11.0 m/s) were reduced following detraining. Stride frequency and length (at 8.0 m/s) and HR were unaffected by detraining, but the HRs of only 4 horses were used for statistical calculations. There were no differences in values for detained polo horses and long-term detrained horses for any measured variable. Polo horses were ranked according to speed, endurance, and over-all ability by the riders and coaches. There were direct correlations between average athletic rating and V La4 and W La4 , and there were inverse correlations between average athletic rating and plasma lactate. Stride frequency and length during the fit SET were also strongly correlated with athletic ability suggesting athletic horses took fewer and longer strides.