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The incidence and severity of gastric ulceration does not increase in overtrained Standardbred horses
Author(s) -
De GRAAFROELFSEMA E.,
KEIZER H. A.,
WIJNBERG I. D.,
Van Der KOLK J. H.
Publication year - 2010
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/j.2042-3306.2010.00268.x
Subject(s) - medicine , overtraining , incidence (geometry) , horse , stomach , lesion , physiology , gastroenterology , surgery , physical therapy , athletes , biology , paleontology , physics , optics
Summary Reasons for performing study: Gastric ulceration can be caused by different pathophysiological mechanisms including dietary factors, psychological stress and exercise. Overtraining is a medical syndrome in performance horses associated with altered hormone levels, altered feed intake, altered behaviour and decreased performance. These components might lead to a higher incidence of gastric ulceration in overtrained horses. Objectives: To investigate whether the incidence of gastric ulceration is increased in overtrained compared to control horses. Methods: A longitudinal training study with twelve 1.5 years old Standardbred horses was performed on a treadmill for a total of 32 weeks. Training was divided into 4 periods: (1) acclimatisation (2) training (3) intensified training, and (4) detraining. In period 3, the horses were randomly divided into 2 groups: control (C) and intensified trained group (IT). At the end of each period, gastroscopy was performed in conscious horses after withholding feed for 12 h and water for 6 h using a 3.5 m video gastroendoscope. Lesion scores were assigned to areas of the stomach and graded 1–4. Logistic regression was used for statistical calculations. Results: Evaluation of the stomach revealed only minor changes ( grades 1 or 2 ) on each occasion. There were no significant differences in gastric lesion scores between groups or periods. Most lesions (70%) were found around the minor curvature. After detraining no lesions (0%) were found in contrast to periods 1 (40%, P = 0.056), 2 (30%) and 3 (30%). Conclusions: Experimentally‐induced overtraining does not increase the incidence of gastric ulceration in normally fed Standardbred horses and detraining appears to reduce gastric ulceration.