Abstract
The aim of the study was to assess the effects of training on haematological and biochemical blood parameters as well as on the changes in body surface temperature in horses. In order to identify the predictive value of surface temperature measurements as a marker of animal's performance, their correlations with blood parameters were investigated. The study was carried out on nine horses divided into two groups: routinely ridden and never ridden. Infrared thermography was used to assess surface temperature changes before (BT) and just after training (JAT) on a treadmill. Seven regions of interest (ROIs) located on the neck, shoulder, elbow, back, chest, gluteus and quarter were analysed. The blood samples were taken BT, JAT and 30 min after training (30AT). Haematological parameters including white blood cells, lymphocytes (LYMs), monocytes (MONOs), granulocytes (GRAs), eosinophils (EOSs), haematocrit (HCT) and platelets (PLTs) as well as biochemical parameters such as glucose (GLUC), urea, , and , and creatine phosphokinase (CPK) were analysed. Our results indicated a significant increase in surface temperature JAT () in the neck, shoulder, elbow, gluteus and quarter in routinely ridden horses. Significant changes in EOS () and HCT () in the case of the never-ridden and routinely ridden group, respectively, were found between the times of blood collection. In addition, there was a significant effect of the horse group and the time of blood collection on the CPK activity ( to ) and urea concentrations ( to ). In the routinely ridden horses, there were significant correlations between the changes in MONO (), GRA (), PLT (), HCT (), GLUC () and urea () and the total ROI temperature changes. Moreover, significant correlations between the changes in MONO (, EOS (), GLUC (), urea (), () and () and the total ROI temperature changes were found in never-ridden horses. Different changes in body surface temperature and blood parameters in routinely ridden and never-ridden horses could be associated with different conditioning and performance. A significantly higher surface temperature in routinely ridden horses, as well as the dynamics of changes in HCT, CPK and urea after training indicate better performance of these horses. Significant correlations between MONO, GLUC, and urea and a total ROI surface temperature as well as a negative correlation between MONO and the total ROI temperature in never-ridden horses indicated poor performance.
Highlights
A typical horse at rest produces approximately 50 kcal min−1 of heat by muscle resting metabolism, which is sufficient to maintain a proper internal body temperature (Mexiner, 1979)
Significant differences in the creatine phosphokinase (CPK) activity were found between both groups at individual time points (BT – 155 U L−1 vs. 210 U L−1, p = 0.037; 30 min after training (30AT) – 370 U L−1 vs. 236 U L−1, p = 0.027) (Table 2)
A significant effect of the time of blood collection was noticed for the plasma urea level in group B, which first increased (Me = 29.4 mg dL−1 before training (BT) and Me = 44.2 mg dL−1 just after training (JAT); p = 0.045) and 30AT decreased almost to the initial value (Me = 31.7 mg dL−1; p = 0.317)
Summary
A typical horse at rest produces approximately 50 kcal min−1 of heat by muscle resting metabolism, which is sufficient to maintain a proper internal body temperature (Mexiner, 1979). Approximately 70 %–80 % of the energy produced by working muscles is released as heat, and the amount of generated heat rapidly increases with work rate (Hodgson et al, 1994). The heat produced during exercise increases the temperature of the circulating blood (Hodgson et al, 1993) and subsequently increases the core temperature (Sexton et al, 1986). Blood flow through dermal capillaries increases, which leads to heat dissipation from the skin surface. Heat produced by muscles during exercise in a horse must be lost to the environment very effectively in order to avoid hyperthermia
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