Measuring Exercise Intensity in Horses
One of the most important aspects of designing a feeding plan for a horse in work, whether it be pleasure riding or competition training, is matching the diet to the exercise intensity. With performance horses, there is often a fine balance between providing essential energy and nutrients whilst managing temperament and other challenges, such as metabolic disease and squamous gastric ulcers. Feed programs also need to fit our busy schedules and make use of the feeds available in our location or at certain times of year. Whether the horse is doing trail riding, dressage, eventing, jumping, stockwork, western, endurance or racing, finding the right feed to suit their individual needs and training regimes is essential. The question often is: what level of exercise intensity are they actually doing?
As riders, we often measure exercise intensity rather subjectively, using indicators such as the speed or gait, the duration of the exercise, the number and size of jumps, and the presence of hills/slope. The horse’s response in terms of respiration rate and sweat are also used to gauge work intensity. Whilst these measures are great practical tools, are they really telling us what we need to determine the intensity of the exercise and our horse’s response?
Physiological measures of exertion such as heart rate and blood lactate in relation to speed and duration can help to provide more accurate information. The use of heart rate monitors and GPS tracking can be a useful tool to record and monitor distance covered at each speed and the horse’s corresponding heart rate. Monitoring heart rate post exercise can also provide useful information on recovery times, both improved recovery in response to training, or poor recovery that may lead to poor performance. There are many exercise monitoring apps and tools that can be utilised for this purpose. One such example is KER ClockIt.
A simple, alternative, way to assess and categorise your horse’s exercise level is using the weekly workload guideline provided by the NRC (2007). This chart groups horses into 4 exercise categories based on mean heart rate, duration and gait, and the type of events the horse is doing. This tool can be used to determine the average work load and help match the feed program to the horse’s exercise regime.
Overestimating the exercise intensity of our training is a common misconception. Several studies have indicated that the level at which we train horses is lower than the intensity they experience during competition. Research conducted at KER, measuring heart rate during the cross country phase of eventing in various grades of competition horses, showed that upper level event horses had heart rates of 175bpm and spent a significant amount of time with a heart rate above 200bpm. Lower level event horses also spent a significant amount of time with a heart rate above 175bpm during cross country. In contrast, during training, many of the horses spent most of their time in trot and did not reach a heart rate above 110bpm. This suggests the need to accurately measure intensity of our training sessions and match training to the intensity experienced at the various levels of competition.
So, when determining our horse’s work load and exercise intensity it is important to consider, and factor in, the competition intensity. Once the work level is determined, the feed program can be designed to provide the correct type of fuel to support the exercise, suit the horse’s temperament, and meet the rider’s needs.
Dietary analysis is the best way to assess the feed plan and provide a balance of energy, protein, vitamins and minerals. Visit our ration analysis page for more information.