Re: warmup

[Susan Evans Garlinghouse <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

Tivers@aol.com wrote:

> 
> Hmmm, tough question. In racehorses we want to warm up because we need extreme
> flexibility and a full complement of red cells in circulation--also, for
> tendons, ligaments and muscles to be ready for some rather exotic forces.
> 
> Aside from flexibility and perhaps some increased fuel-efficiency, not much of
> the rest seems to apply to endurance horses. Within 2 1/2 miles of a gentle
> start in competition, these animals will be fully warmed up.
> 
> I'll have to defer to someone who knows more about the needs of the endurance
> horse in this area. No doubt that warmup is good--but what warmup and what are
> the effects in an endurance horse?
> 
> ti

One other thought that comes to mind is that while the racehorses will
be burning primarily glycogen during his race, the endurance horse will
be relying primarily on fatty acids, with glycogen as the pilot light. 
Without looking it up, I think it takes about 20 minutes or so for the
lipolysis pathways to come fully on line---prior to that, the endurance
horse will be burning more glucose and personally, I'd rather save that
glycogen for lot further down the trail.

So I would think that endurance horses would benefit from a long slow
warmup prior to the start to get the lipolytic pathways up and running
before the fuel demands increase after the start.

Just a thought.

Susan G