Long distance exercise in the horse: Golden Horseshoe Ride 1978

Abstract

As part of a study of the metabolic effects of long distance riding the results of biochemical analyses of blood samples taken from horses before, immediately after and one hour after an 80 km ride are reported. The results show that the horses were moderately dehydrated, they were working aerobically using fats as metabolic substrates and blood glucose was reduced. There was no evidence of post exercise ketosis and circulating alanine levels fell. Metabolic hormone levels are reported and are related to the availability of substrates for gluconeogenesis. There was evidence of reduced kidney and liver function which was showing little sign of recovery in the first hour after the ride.

Physiological Parameters of Endurance Horses Pre- Compared to Post-Race, Correlated with Performance: A Two Race Study from Scandinavia

“…BUN showed a significant increase compared to the first post-race sample as with other studies [13, 15, 19], and a significant 20% decrease at the second post race sample corresponds with the findings of Lucke and Hall [12]. The changes found for ALP and inorganic phosphate are also consistent with previous findings [11, 12, 28, 31]. Rose and colleagues [19] investigated cholesterol levels in endurance trained horses over a longer time frame than that of race B making data comparison meaningless.…”

“…Moreover, the increase in haematocrit also serves to suggest a change towards haemoconcentration as well as splenic contraction with associated erythrocyte release [27, 31]. …”

Biochemical and Antioxidant Changes in Plasma and Erythrocytes of Pentathlon Horses Before and After Exercise

“…Response to exercise in horses has been studied from several aspects. Many studies have been performed to evaluate changes in physiological, biochemical, and lipid peroxidation parameters in Thoroughbred 1–4 and Standardbred 5–11 racehorses, 3‐day‐event horses, 12 and endurance horses 13–16 . We are aware of only 1 article on exercise‐induced changes in polo horses 17 and 2 articles about show jumping horses 18 , 19 .…”

“…Increased PCV, hemoglobin concentration, RBC and WBC counts, and concentrations of plasma total protein, albumin, glucose, urea, creatinine, ketones, bilirubin, iron, phosphate, free fatty acids, cholesterol, lactate, uric acid, cortisol, and glucagon have been found postexercise 5–7,13,15–16 . Similarly, higher activities of creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), alkaline phosphatase, aspar‐tate aminotransferase, and gamma glutamyltransferase have been documented 5–7,13,15,16 . However, some other plasma components, eg, potassium, calcium, and bicarbonate concentrations, were decreased 5–7,13,15,16 …”

“…Similarly, higher activities of creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), alkaline phosphatase, aspar‐tate aminotransferase, and gamma glutamyltransferase have been documented 5–7,13,15,16 . However, some other plasma components, eg, potassium, calcium, and bicarbonate concentrations, were decreased 5–7,13,15,16 …”