Treadmill exercice tests

[Gavino]

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QUESTION. Is it possible to use treadmill exercise tests in standardbred and thoroughbred yearlings to predict their athletic capacity?Are there parameters related with higher performances? Thank you for your answer

 

[Lab Vet]

QUESTION. Is it possible to use treadmill exercise tests in standardbred and thoroughbred yearlings to predict their athletic capacity?Are there parameters related with higher performances? Thank you for your answer

Hi Gavino,

I conducted empirical (treadmill) research on older Standardbred mares concerning exercise performance in response to various interventions. Exercise capacity can be quantified in a number of ways: maximal oxygen uptake, lactic acid accumulation, etc. The treadmill itself is only a tool- there isn't really anything magic about it. It provides a mechanism by which the horse can exercise (sub)maximally, traditionally while instrumented with data capture devices. These days, much equine exercise work is conducted in a more natural environment (i.e. on a racing surface) using telemetry devices.

There is a significant equine exercise literature that defines parameters for different categories of horse (i.e. athletically 'fit' Standardbreds versus sedentary Standardbreds; old versus young Thoroughbreds, etc.) One only needs to search the literature (pubmed, CAB abstracts) to find these publications. There's even a journal titled 'Equine and Comparative Exercise Physiology.' Also, you can check out a basic equine exercise physiology textbook (i.e. 'The Athletic Horse by Hodgson et al.) to get a basic understanding of these concepts, and how they relate to performance.

Good luck!

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