High-intensity training of young racehorses affects metabolism
Despite the fact that the trotting sport has been very popular for decades, in Sweden and international, relatively little is known about how different training programs affect horses in their early years. New results show how young horses' metabolism was affected by two different training programs.
The study was conducted by researchers from SLU, at the national trotting facility Wången.
All horses in the study had the same training program from 1.5 to 2 years of age. At 2 years of age, high-intensity training was started and the horses were divided into two groups, one of which always trained 30% shorter distances with a high heart rate (over 180 beats/min). The horses were then followed by blood sampling at 1.5, 2, 2.5 and 3 years of age, and the blood plasma content of 630 different metabolites, products of the body's metabolism, was examined.
Several differences were observed between the training groups. In the horses that exercised the most, the concentration of 161 metabolites was lower and 51 were higher. Some increased in concentration with time and a few decreased.
The study was conducted by researchers from SLU, at the national trotting facility Wången.
All horses in the study had the same training program from 1.5 to 2 years of age. At 2 years of age, high-intensity training was started and the horses were divided into two groups, one of which always trained 30% shorter distances with a high heart rate (over 180 beats/min). The horses were then followed by blood sampling at 1.5, 2, 2.5 and 3 years of age, and the blood plasma content of 630 different metabolites, products of the body's metabolism, was examined.
Several differences were observed between the training groups. In the horses that exercised the most, the concentration of 161 metabolites was lower and 51 were higher. Some increased in concentration with time and a few decreased.
Link to the publication
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-52188-z
Reference
Johansson, L., Ringmark, S., Bergquist, J. et al. A metabolomics perspective on 2 years of high-intensity training in horses. Sci Rep 14, 2139 (2024).
Contact
-
Person