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EQUINE VETERINARY EDUCATION


Equine vet. Educ. (2018) 30 (5) 262-267 doi: 10.1111/eve.12775


Original Article


Standardised exercise testing in 17 reining horses: Musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardiac and clinicopathological findings


C. Navas de Solis†* , S. N. Sampson†, T. McKay‡ and C. Whitfield-Cargile† †Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Texas A&M University; and ‡Athletics Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA. *Corresponding author email: cnavasdesolis@cvm.tamu.edu


Keywords: horse; American Quarter Horse; western performance; exercising arrhythmias; poor performance; lameness


Summary Exercise testing can be useful to evaluate poor performance, as a preventative medicine tool, and in the assessment of training progression. A comprehensive exercise testing protocol that simultaneously evaluates common causes of poor performance has not been described in reining horses. The objective of this study was to describe the results of a standardised exercise testing protocol in reining horses. Seventeen reining horses that were part of a western performance intercollegiate team and had met the trainer’s expectations during the athletic season were evaluated using a comprehensive standardised exercise test. Systems assessed included musculoskeletal system, upper respiratory tract, lower respiratory tract and cardiovascular system. These systems were assessed by means of historical questionnaires, general physical examinations, subjective lameness examinations, gait analysis using digital body mounted inertial sensors, resting and dynamic upper airway endoscopy, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid cytology, echocardiograms, resting and exercising electrocardiography, and laboratory tests (packed cell volume, lactate, creatine kinase and serum amyloid A). Subclinical abnormalities were detected frequently. The musculoskeletal system was the most commonly affected system, but cardiovascular and upper and lower airway abnormalities were also detected in some horses. These results suggest that exercise tests may be useful to detect subclinical abnormalities in horses used for reining. Further evaluation of both normally and poorly performing horses is necessary to determine if exercise testing can improve the health, performance and welfare of horses used for reining.


Introduction


Exercise testing can be useful to evaluate poor performance, optimise training or as part of preventative medicine programmes aimed to decrease injury occurrence in sport horses (Allen et al. 2016). There are few studies reporting exercise testing in western performance horses and these describe specific aspects such as acid base alterations (Brito et al. 2014), changes in muscle enzyme activities (Caiado et al. 2011), response to different feeding (Rammerstorfer et al. 2001) or training (Webb et al. 1988) regimes, and heat acclimation (Rammerstorfer et al. 1998). Musculoskeletal disease is the most common cause of poor performance in horses including western disciplines (Dabareiner et al. 2005) but it has been demonstrated that in most poorly performing horses, several problems are


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simultaneously involved (Morris and Seeherman 1991; Martin et al. 2000; Fraipont et al. 2011). For this reason,


comprehensive standardised exercise tests (SETs) that evaluate fitness and all body systems potentially involved in poor performance, have been suggested as useful diagnostic aids (Allen et al. 2016). Cardiovascular disease is a less common cause of poor


performance than musculoskeletal or respiratory disease (Martin et al. 2000). The field of exercising arrhythmias, however, deserves attention. The presence of arrhythmias or rhythm variations is common in equine athletes (Ryan et al. 2005; Barbesgaard et al. 2010; Buhl et al. 2010) and this topic has been recently reviewed (Navas de Solis 2016). Collapse and sudden death can affect not only the health of the horse, but also the public perception of welfare during equestrian sports and, most importantly, the safety of riders. The incidence of malignant arrhythmias causing collapse or sudden death is fortunately low (Lyle et al. 2012) but interestingly, it is likely to be disproportionately higher in horses than in analogous human athletes (Maron and Pelliccia 2006). A recent expert consensus about cardiovascular disease in equine athletes (Reef et al. 2014) recognises that investigation is needed to determine the relevance of cardiac arrhythmias and its relationship to sudden death. This consensus also recommends ‘refining exercise testing for specific sports’. The study described here follows these recommendations. This study was designed to gain information about the


feasibility and results of an exercise testing protocol designed for western performance horses used for reining. The study objective was to describe the normal findings and different abnormalities detected using a SET in reining horses as part of a western intercollegiate riding team. A comprehensive exercise testing protocol for use in reining horses has not been previously described. A protocol such as that described here could be recreated to assess poor performance or be used as a preventative medicine tool for reining horses. In addition, these results will allow practitioners to have a reference population when evaluating results of exercising testing in reining horses.


Materials and methods


A SET was developed to prospectively obtain data from reining horses that were part of an intercollegiate equestrian team. Horses met inclusion criteria if they had been used for reining in the previous collegiate season, were capable of performing a SET and were performing up


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