Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

 My Friend Frank,
 Dang, I hate to disagree with any fellow Nebraskan, but the heart 
rate, while only a component of the entire vet exam, is "party central" 
because of how it's integrated into the rest of the horse's (or human's) 
physiology. The heart  is influenced by so many factors in the 
exercising horse. First, a reduced oxygen supply will increase heart 
rate. As does exercise. Adrenaline lights it up like a Christmas tree. 
Fatigue will cause the heart to beat more shallowly, weakly, and with 
less blood output, which influences other target tissues. Dehydration 
will have a similar effect, as will loss of electrloytes. Hypoglcemia 
will decrease the heart's ability to pump efficiently. Increased ambient 
or body temperature will cause increased heart rate as it tries to cool 
itself. Pain drives the heart rate up--from lameness, colic, gas, girth 
galls, bad saddle fit. Anemia will increase the heart rate.
Fitness and deconditioning have opposite effects on cardiac efficiency. 
Any one or a combination of these factors can be imposed on an endurance 
horse, and the first easily detectable sign is---an elevated heart rate. 
So I look at the heart rate as "a ticket to the dance." It's not 
meaningful until the causes are traced, good or bad. Not too many horses 
crash and burn without the heart rate having a sayso. Any Vets on this 
one?   DrQ


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