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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Animal Behavior and Welfare
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1456733
This article is part of the Research Topic Advances in the Application of Technology for Monitoring Horse Welfare and Health View all 3 articles

Autonomic regulation in athletic horses repetitively participating in two novice jumping classes on consecutive days

Provisionally accepted
Thita Wonghanchao Thita Wonghanchao Onjira Huangsaksri Onjira Huangsaksri Kanokpan Sanigavatee Kanokpan Sanigavatee Chanoknun Poochipakorn Chanoknun Poochipakorn Sarisa Chan-Prame Sarisa Chan-Prame Sirapatch Wongkosoljit Sirapatch Wongkosoljit Wanlapa Chotiyothin Wanlapa Chotiyothin Nontaruj Rattanayanon Nontaruj Rattanayanon Ratsamin Kiawwan Ratsamin Kiawwan Metha Chanda Metha Chanda *
  • Faculty of Veterinary Science, Kasetsart University, Kamphangsaen, Thailand

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Animal welfare is of great concern in equestrian sports and has been evaluated in athletic horses competing at different levels. However, the impact of consecutive days of jumping competition and the extent of resultant stress responses remains unclear. To address this point, the present study compared the changes in stress response via heart rate variability (HRV) in horses participating in two national jumping events on consecutive days. The study involved six experienced horses equipped with heart rate monitoring devices. HRV variables were measured before, during, and after jumping at 10-minute intervals for 60 minutes on each competition day.Multiple HRV variables decreased to varying degrees on both days from warm-up until 30 minutes post-jumping. Meanwhile, the mean heart rate increased during jumping and returned to normal levels at 50 minutes post-jumping on the first day (for all intervals, p < 0.05-0.001), while it remained elevated beyond 60 minutes post-jumping on the second day (for all intervals, p < 0.01-0.001). Additionally, maximum heart rate and respiratory rate were higher on the second day than in the first round during the warm-up phase (p < 0.05 for both variables). The proportion of the HRV low-frequency band was higher during riding on the second day (p < 0.05), while the proportion of the high-frequency band was reduced during warm-up on the first day (p < 0.05) and during course riding on the second (p < 0.01). Meanwhile, the sympathetic nervous system index took longer to return to baseline on the second day than on the first. These results suggest that autonomic regulation differed in horses between jumping rounds on two consecutive days, with horses experiencing higher sympathetic activity and potentially increased stress in the second round. This information is important for riders, highlighting the need to be mindful of potential stress that could, at least in part, impact the welfare of horses participating in the same jumping competition on consecutive days.

    Keywords: Heart rate variability, horse, Jumping, repetitive competition, stress response, welfare

    Received: 29 Jun 2024; Accepted: 09 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wonghanchao, Huangsaksri, Sanigavatee, Poochipakorn, Chan-Prame, Wongkosoljit, Chotiyothin, Rattanayanon, Kiawwan and Chanda. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Metha Chanda, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Kasetsart University, Kamphangsaen, Thailand

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