Young Friesian Horses Show Familial Aggregation in Fitness Response to a 7‐Week Performance Test

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IntroductionThe aims of the study were to monitor fitness level of young Friesian horses and to assess whether fitness data has a predictive value for the final performance score and whether familial aggregation of response to training could be detected.MethodsSixty‐six young Friesian horses, offspring of six different stallions (A, B, C, D, E and F), underwent a 7‐week performance test. Horses were given a performance score for their dressage ability (0–110 points), and fitness was evaluated with standardised‐exercise‐tests (SET) at the beginning (SET‐I) and the end (SET‐II) of the period. Heart rate (HR; beats/min) was measured in both SET, and plasma lactate concentration (LA; mmol/L) was measured only in SET‐II. The majority of data were analyzed with an ANOVA‐test or a linear‐model (P<0.05).ResultsFitness of horses improved significantly between SET‐I and II (P = 0.015). There was a large heterogeneity in responsiveness to training; some horses were high‐responders, whereas others were non‐ or low‐responders. There was a familial aggregation of HRcanter‐1 response to training (P = 0.039); offspring of stallion C decreased significantly more in HR than offspring of stallions A (P = 0.09), D (P = 0.013) and F (P = 0.009). HR had no predictive value for the performance score, but horses that did not reach the anaerobic threshold in SET‐II scored significantly better (73.8 ± 5.6 points) than horses that did (69.9 ± 5.9 points, P = 0.025).ConclusionsThe present study reports, for the first time in the horse, familial aggregation of HR‐response to training. HR could not predict final performance score, but LA‐concentrations during SET‐II were predictive.Ethical Animal ResearchConsent was obtained from the owners of all horses. Sources of funding: partly financially supported by the Royal Friesian Horse Studbook (KFPS). Competing interests: none.