2024 Comparative heart rate study
We have been working on this project for a while, and on Saturday 30th March, we began the first session of the Groen Equestrian 2024 Comparative Heart Rate Study in Banbury, Oxfordshire. As many of you have noticed, I am very interested in heart rates, particularly how various breeds of horses respond to the same workload and how we can provide better guidance for all types of horses to work safely.
There is a huge diversity in athletic ability between breeds, the combination of heart size, lung capacity, predominate type of muscles and thermoregulation gives a hugely different response to work, especially when doing higher intensities of work. Individual training of each horse should be adapted to its athletic ability but most of the time the same type of training is advised for every horse. This is simply because we often don't know how what the athletic ability of our particular horse is, but also to a large extent because most equine physiological studies have been done on sports types and the cobs and other less sporty types which make up a huge part of our grassroots endurance horses have not really received their due attention.
The reality is that different types of horses will need to work at a different intensity, depending on their athletic ability. And then there are extra factors that contribute as well: if the horse lives out or is stabled, the type of terrain any training is being done. A huge factor for how quickly a horse gets fit is the previous fitness of the horse, though this will also differ between genetic and environmental diversity.
To measure is to know! And that is exactly what we did (and will do)
On Saturday the 30th, and on 4 subsequent dates, we will be testing a number of horses. They will all undergo the same tests so we can compare their lowest and highest heart rates, observe their pulse in walk, trot, and canter, and assess their reaction to higher intensity work. We will compare the horses with each other, as well as track their progress in fitness by repeating the tests on later dates.
Have a look what we have found on this first day:
In the readings of two of the horses, one showed fairly low heart rates while the other showed fairly high heart rates. The varying responses to the exercise were due in part to their natural abilities and also to their level of excitability, which can impact heart rates up to moderate levels of work.
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What will be very interesting is to see how both horses respond to the work next time. Of course we might still have excitement, and perhaps slightly warmer weather. So it is very difficult to really compare that data black and white. Correct interpretation of the circumstances on the day is important, but the big picture will be very clear.
We are looking forward to do more tests and you can join in at the gallops in Banbury (Oxfordshire). The remaining dates are: on 27 April, 19 May, 30 June and 27 July
Use the form to join the COMPARATIVE HEART RATE STUDY: https://form.jotform.com/240582370865360Or if you want a coached workout on the gallops on one of those days just send a message
