Comparison of the workload of Dutch warmblood horses ridden normally and on a treadmill
Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan, M.M.; Barneveld, A.
Veterinary Record 137(6): 136-139
1995
ISSN/ISBN: 0042-4900 PMID: 8540205 Document Number: 449675
Six Dutch warmblood horses, ridden by an experienced rider, cantered 3320 m at a speed adapted to the individual horse's anaerobic threshold, under 4 different conditions:1, on a firm shell track with the speed varying from 6.5 to 9.4 m/s; 2, on a horizontal treadmill at the same speeds and for the same duration as in test 1; 3, on a horizontal treadmill at the same duration as in tests 1 and 2, but at a 10% higher speed; and 4, on a treadmill at the same speed and for the same duration as in test 1, but at an inclination of 1 to 2% adjusted individually to obtain heart rates similar to those recorded in test 1. Heart rate was monitored continuously and recorded every 15 seconds during each test. Blood samples were taken before each test and 1 minute after its completion. On the basis of heart rates and plasma lactate concentrations, the workload of the horses was significantly greater in the normal exercise test (1) than in the first treadmill test (2). Increasing the speed of the test on the horizontal treadmill by 10% (test 3) resulted in heart rates and plasma lactate concentrations similar to those recorded in test 1. Inclining the treadmill on the basis of the heart rates achieved in test 1 had a less consistent effect than increasing the speed, but imitated a normal exercise test better than the horizontal treadmill test 2.