Relationship between Resting and Recovery Heart Rate in Horses

Proposed Protocol for Field Testing of Endurance Fitness of Young Labrador Retrievers

The number of dogs and, with it, dog sports are growing in popularity, and the training of dogs begins at an early age. Although fitness testing is an imperative part of purposeful training and sports, to our knowledge, no objective field tests are available for measuring young dogs' endurance fitness. The aim of this study is to describe a simple, easy-to-repeat, and inexpensive way to test training intervention effects on endurance fitness in young Labrador Retrievers. Healthy client-owned 16-week-old Labrador Retrievers will be recruited and divided into test and control groups. The test group will have an eight-week training program followed by a four-week detraining period, while the control group will live a normal puppy life. All dogs will be tested for endurance fitness four times at four-week intervals: at baseline, one month later, two months later at the end of the training period, and one month after ending the training program. Each of the four testing sessions will be identical and will consist of four measurements of heart rate (HR) and blood lactate (BL): at baseline, after trotting 1000 m, after sprinting 200 m, and at recovery 5-8 min after the sprint. The training-induced changes in endurance fitness are evaluated by changes in HR and heart rate recovery times (HRR), BL, and running times.

Blood lactate concentrations and heart rates of Colombian Paso horses during a field exercise test

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The heart rate during the field exercise test increased according to the protocol used.

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The blood lactate concentration values during the test were remarkably dispersed.

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The mean blood lactate clearance percentage was 56.3 ± 16, similar in most animals.

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The heart rate at which a blood lactate concentration of 4 mmol/L was reached was notably different among individuals.

Information on performance indices in Paso horses is scarce. Field exercise tests are necessary to recreate the exertion that occurs during training and competition.

To describe blood lactate concentrations and heart rates of untrained Colombian Paso horses (CPHs) in response to a field exercise test.

A 30-minutes-long standardized field exercise test was carried out on 11 untrained adult CPHs of both sexes. Blood lactate concentration (BLConc) and heart rate (HR) were measured before, during each step of the test, and at recovery. The BLConc and HR were used to calculate the HR at which a BLConc of 4 mmol/L or anaerobic threshold (HRL₄) was reached.

The HR during the field exercise test increased according to the protocol used. The BLConc during the test was variable and, despite having been increasing like the HR, the distribution of the values in each step of the test was remarkably dispersed. The mean blood lactate clearance (BLClear) percentage was 56.3 ± 16, similar in most animals. The HRL₄ was reached at a notably different HR among individuals (132 to 251 bpm).

The field exercise test protocol used herein is useful to assess BLConc and HR changes in acute response to exercise in CPHs. It would be useful to evaluate training kinetics with other parameters including cell blood count and muscle enzymes.