Veterinary/zoology session

Treadmill exercise testing is routinely used to evaluate physical condition and performance ability in sport horses but it has never been applied to Lipizzan driving horses to the author’s knowledge.

The aim of this study was to apply treadmill exercise testing to Lipizzan driving horses and collect data about heart rate and blood lactate concentrations during a high-speed test.

Twelve healthy driving horses competing at international level were examined four times. All of them were acclimatized to the treadmill before the study. Horses were equipped with a heart rate (HR) meter (Polar Equine Driving Kit). Arterial blood was taken from the catheter in the facial artery. After a warm up period a high-speed test was performed. Blood samples were collected at rest, following warm up period, and three times during high-speed test. After 20 minutes at 2.2 m/s, 10 min. at 3.7-4.0 m/s, and 2.8 min. at 8-9 m/s (warm up) the high-speed test was presented. The required time to hit and keep 200-225 beats/min maximum heart rate was 5.2-6 min. at 9.5-10.5 m/s speed.

Results: V100 (m/s mean±SD) was 8.9±1.1, V200 was 9.8±0.8. The mean lactate concentration (mmol/l +SD) was 0.6±0.2 (P<0.05 ) at rest, 2.9±0.3(P<0.02) following the warm up period, and 6.9±1.2 (P<0.05) at the end of the exercise. PaO2 (% ± SD) at rest was 98.1±1.2, after the warm up 89.2±2.1, and at the and 79.9±3.8.

This report describes HR and blood lactate concentrations in Lipizzan driving horses during a treadmill exercise testing. The results obtained suggest that these athletes have a good condition, with a very good performance ability.