Physiological Demands and Changes  Resulting from Effort in Low Handicap  Polo Horses

Pollyanna Cardoso  Araujo; Camila Alfaro de  Oliveira Bello; Cinthia Beatriz da Silva  Dumont; Renata De Pino  Albuquerque Maranhao; Fabieni Tiemy Menezes  Okiyama; Kaique Nogueira; Eduardo Mauricio  Mendes de Lima

Volume : III, Issue : III, March - 2014

Physiological Demands and Changes Resulting from Effort in Low Handicap Polo Horses

Pollyanna Cardoso Araujo, Camila Alfaro De Oliveira Bello, Cinthia Beatriz Da Silva Dumont, Renata De Pino Albuquerque Maranhao, Fabieni Tiemy Menezes Okiyama, Kaique Nogueira, Eduardo Mauricio Mendes De Lima

Abstract :

In order to understand the physiological demands and possible changes resulting from effort in horses and determine the type and intensity of exercise performed in equestrian polo of low handicap, we analyzed the negative logarithm of the activity of hydrogen ions (pH), carbon dioxide partial pressure (pCO2), oxygen partial pressure (pO2), the concentration of plasma bicarbonate ions (HCO3–) and serum concentrations of Na+, Cl– and K+ of seven healthy horses after a polo match of low handicap. Variables pCO2, pO2 and HCO3– were the only parameters that were significantly different before and after the match, and there were no significant hydroelectrolytic changes. It was possible to classify the low handicap polo as an exercise of short duration and varying intensity, considering the lack of change in the hydroelectrolytic balance. The exercise to which the animals were subjected is compatible with their athletic fitness.