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Young Friesian Horses Show Familial Aggregation in Fitness Response to a 7‐Week Performance Test
Author(s) -
Munsters C,
Broek J,
Weeren R,
Sloet van OldruitenborghOosterbaan M
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
equine veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.82
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 2042-3306
pISSN - 0425-1644
DOI - 10.1111/evj.12267_23
Subject(s) - offspring , horse , anaerobic exercise , medicine , analysis of variance , lactate threshold , zoology , predictive value , heart rate , training set , physical therapy , biology , blood lactate , genetics , pregnancy , paleontology , blood pressure , artificial intelligence , computer science
The aims of the study were to monitor fitness level of young Friesian horses and to assess whether fitness data has a predictive value for the final performance score and whether familial aggregation of response to training could be detected. Methods Sixty‐six young Friesian horses, offspring of six different stallions (A, B, C, D, E and F), underwent a 7‐week performance test. Horses were given a performance score for their dressage ability (0–110 points), and fitness was evaluated with standardised‐exercise‐tests ( SET ) at the beginning ( SET ‐ I ) and the end ( SET‐II ) of the period. Heart rate ( HR ; beats/min) was measured in both SET , and plasma lactate concentration ( LA ; mmol/L) was measured only in SET‐II . The majority of data were analyzed with an ANOVA ‐test or a linear‐model (P<0.05). Results Fitness of horses improved significantly between SET ‐ I and II (P = 0.015). There was a large heterogeneity in responsiveness to training; some horses were high‐responders, whereas others were non‐ or low‐responders. There was a familial aggregation of HR canter‐1 response to training (P = 0.039); offspring of stallion C decreased significantly more in HR than offspring of stallions A (P = 0.09), D (P = 0.013) and F (P = 0.009). HR had no predictive value for the performance score, but horses that did not reach the anaerobic threshold in SET‐II scored significantly better (73.8 ± 5.6 points) than horses that did (69.9 ± 5.9 points, P = 0.025). Conclusions The present study reports, for the first time in the horse, familial aggregation of HR ‐response to training. HR could not predict final performance score, but LA ‐concentrations during SET‐II were predictive. Ethical Animal Research Consent was obtained from the owners of all horses. Sources of funding: partly financially supported by the Royal Friesian Horse Studbook ( KFPS ). Competing interests: none.