Source: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS submitted to
A NOVEL METHOD OF COOLING HORSES AFTER ENDURANCE EXERCISE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
HATCH
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0202109
Grant No.
(N/A)
Project No.
ILLU-888-311
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Oct 1, 2004
Project End Date
Sep 30, 2005
Grant Year
(N/A)
Project Director
Foreman, J. H.
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
2001 S. Lincoln Ave.
URBANA,IL 61801
Performing Department
VETERINARY RES AND EXTENSION
Non Technical Summary
Horses often overheat when they exercise. Conventional methods of cooling are inadequate, especially under hot and humid conditions. Newer methods of cooling with large volumes of ice water are not always easily accepted by horsemen. Use of a cooling blanket to assist in post-exercise cooling, if efficacious, will likely be more acceptable to horsemen and will undoubtedly be less labor intensive.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
31538101020100%
Knowledge Area
315 - Animal Welfare/Well-Being and Protection;

Subject Of Investigation
3810 - Horses, ponies, and mules;

Field Of Science
1020 - Physiology;
Goals / Objectives
Horses generate considerable intra-muscular heat when they exercise. This heat can be responsible for fatigue during and after exercise. Horses which become exhausted can succumb to this accumulation of heat, resulting in shock, cardiovascular collapse, neurological signs, and death. Excessive heat generation is a considerable problem in exercise over lengthy periods of time such as in three-day events and endurance races. Conventional cooling methods have been shown to be insufficient in post-exercise cooling under conditions of increased heat and/or humidity. Newer methods involve the use of large volumes of ice water but are not well accepted by the equestrian community and are labor intensive, and availability of sufficient ice can be a problem under field conditions. The objective of this project is to investigate the efficacy of a new breathable fabric made into a blanket to be placed onto horses during the post-exercise cooling process.
Project Methods
We have considerable experience studying horses exercising under controlled conditions in our Equine Treadmill Laboratory. For this study, we plan to compare post-exercise cooling in a controlled manner with and without a new cooling blanket under both hot/dry and hot/humid conditions (4 treatments). Each horse will exercise until it reaches a target temperature (41.5 C) and will then walk for 30 minutes either with or without the addition of a cooling blanket made of a breathable moistened fabric called Hydroweave. Use of both hot/dry and hot/humid laboratory conditions on different days will allow us to determine the efficacy of the blanket under differing environmental conditions.

Progress 10/01/04 to 09/30/05

Outputs
Experiment: Efficacy of different methods were studies for cooling horses after exercise under hot conditions. Horses generate considerable internal heat burdens when exercising. While it is common practice for a trainer or groom to place a wet blanket or towel on the dorsum of a hot horse post-exercise, there are no data supporting the efficacy of this cooling method. Newer breathable fabrics have been designed which, when pre-moistened, promote evaporative heat loss in human subjects while exercising or laboring ('cooling vests'). The objective of this experiment was to test the hypothesis that a pre-moistened cooling blanket designed with multilayered breathable material would enhance heat loss in horses post-exercise. Materials and Methods: Eight treadmill-trained horses (7 TB, 1 QH, mean age 6.9 yrs) performed a standardized exercise test (SET) weekly for 3 weeks, with 3 different recovery treatments administered randomly. Pulmonary artery temperature (PAT) was measured via Swan-Ganz catheter. The SET consisted of 10 min at 3.7 m/s, 3 min at 11.0 m/s, 25 min at 3.7 m/s, and 20 min of recovery walking at 1.8 m/s (58 min exercise and recovery under laboratory conditions of 36.7-40.6 C and 40-50% RH). From 3-6 min during recovery, the treadmill was stopped and horses randomly received either: (a) no bath (negative control), (b) a bath consisting of 32 L of 4 C water (positive control), or (c) application of a special fabric blanket soaked in 18 C water, wrung out, and placed over the horse's dorsum and sides. PAT was compared using RM ANOVA with the Student Neuman-Keul's test used post hoc to discriminate between treatments at specific points in time. Results: Mean PAT rose with each phase of exercise (P<0.05) and peaked at 40.2+0.2 C. During recovery, the cold bath decreased PAT through 10 min after walking resumed (P<0.05). The blanket did not decrease PAT compared to negative control (P>0.05), and both were hotter than the cold bath treatment through 16 min of recovery (P<0.05). Conclusion: A specially-designed cooling blanket failed to reduce PAT when compared to negative control. Cold water bathing decreased PAT (P<0.05) but was not effective throughout all of recovery when walking resumed after the bath.

Impacts
A specially-designed cooling blanket failed to reduce core temperature in horses when compared to cooling treatment. Cold water bathing decreased core temperature for 10 minutes after bathing but was not effective throughout all of recovery once walking resumed after the ice water bath.

Publications

  • Foreman, J.H. 2006. Efficacy of different methods for cooling horses after exercise under hot conditions. Equine Vet. J. (Under Review). Abstract already accepted for presentation at the quadrennial 7th International Conference on Equine Exercise Physiology in Fontainebleu, France in August 2006.