Authors: Stefania Casella Daniela Alberghina Claudia Giannetto Giuseppe Piccione
Publish Date: 2010/12/21
Volume: 21, Issue: 5, Pages: 611-614
Abstract
In order to assess the relationship between blood gas profile and athletic performance after a specific training programme six clinically healthy Italian saddle horses were used Each animal was subjected to an adaptation period constituted by horse walker exercise followed by a training programme for 3 months In the last day of each month all horses were subjected to a standardized exercise test SET consisting of 15 min of treadmill On blood samples collected by means of a jugular venipuncture at rest immediately after each SET and after 15 min pH partial pressure of carbon dioxide pCO2 partial pressure of oxygen pO2 haematocrit Hct haemoglobin Hb and hydrogen carbonate ion HCO3 − were assessed by means of a selective ion analyser Twoway repeated measure analysis of variance followed by Bonferronis test showed a significant effect of training on pH pO2 pCO2 Hct and Hb No statistically significant differences were observed among SETs 1 2 and 3 Our results showed that physiological alterations in blood gas profile due to training exercise are common in horses These changes are useful to assess the current status of an athlete and the degree of training adaptability providing an opportunity to modify the training schedule accordingly to achieve the desired performance
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