Premium
Physiological variables measured under field conditions according to age and state of training in French Trotters
Author(s) -
COUROUCÉ A.,
CHRÉTIEN M.,
VALETTE J. P.
Publication year - 2002
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 - 10.2746/042516402776181141
Subject(s) - sprint , training (meteorology) , blood lactate , medicine , heart rate , training effect , analysis of variance , statistics , demography , physical therapy , mathematics , geography , blood pressure , sociology , meteorology
Summary We hypothesised that the derived physiological variables V 2 and V 4 (velocity to achieve a blood lactate concentration of 2 and 4 mmol/l, respectively), HR 2 and HR 4 (the corresponding heart rate) and V 200 (the velocity for a heart rate of 200 beats/min) would improve with training state and age, in French Trotters. A total of 194 French Trotters from one training establishment were followed for 6 years and 1105 standardised field exercise tests performed on a sand training track. The horses were divided into 6 age groups (from 1 to ≥ 6 years) and 4 training groups (beginning, endurance training, sprint training, racing). A 2‐way analysis of variance was performed to evaluate the effects of age, training and the interaction of age and training on these physiological variables with the level of statistical significance set at 5%. The results showed that there was a significant influence of age on HR 4 , V 2 , V 4 and V 200 , with these variables increasing with age. Also, there was a significant influence of training and both age and training on V 2 , V 4 and V 200 , with these variables increasing with training and age. These results, obtained in a longitudinal study in a reproducible field environment, are consistent with previous laboratory‐based experimental studies. We conclude that objective indices of fitness obtained on the training track can be useful in the commercial training environment.