Haematological changes following reining trials in Quarter Horses
Vazzana, IreneRizzo, MariaDara, SalvatoreNiutta, Pietro PaoloGiudice, ElisabettaPiccione, Giuseppe
Background: It is well known that exercise induce physiological stress on horses body system, causing signifi cant changes in blood components. Haematological changes associated with exercise have been widely analyzed to provide information about health status and athletic performance in horses. Numerous studies have been performed to investigate the response of haematological parameters to various types of exercise. However, only few studies dealt with reining horses. Reining is a typical Western discipline characterized by man oeuvres requiring fast and powerful muscle contractions and motor skills. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of a reining training session on some hematological parameters. Material, Methods & Results: In the present study, eight Quarter Horses aged 5-15 years (three stallions and fi ve mares; mean body weight 480 ± 60 kg) were used to establish physiologic responses to a reining training session. All subjects were housed at the same horse training centre in Sicily, Italy. All horses were subjected to the reining pattern 5 of National Reining Horse Association (NRHA), consisting of 2 large circle gallop (G1; G2), 1 small circle lope (L1), 1 stop (STOP), 4 spins (S1), 2 large circle gallop (G3; G4), 1 small circle lope (L2), 1 stop (STOP), 4 spins (S2), 1 large circle gallop (G5), lead change (LC1), 1 small circle lope (L3), 1 large circle gallop (G6), lead change (LC2), 1 large circle gallop (G7), lead change (LC3), 2 rollbacks (RB1, RB2), 1 stop (STOP) and backing (B). Blood samples were collected from each animal before (T0) and immediately after completion of the pattern (T1). Further samples were collected after 1 h (T2), 2 h (T3) and 24 h (T4) after exercise, during the recovery period (AU)
Texto completo