Message from Lari Shea, FW: Improving respiratory rate

[Steph Teeter <step@fsr.com>]

-----Original Message-----
From:	by way of Lari Shea <larishea@horse-vacation.com> [SMTP:ridecamp-request@endurance.net]
Sent:	Monday, January 05, 1998 12:05 AM
To:	step@fsr.com
Subject:	Re: Improving respiratory rate

Hi Steph,....I tried changing my Eudora settings, but still came back.
Can't seem to get Ridecamp to load thru endurance net tonight...could you
please post these two postings for me?  Thanks much.  I'll deal with
figuring it all out tomorrow.....Lari




Hi Debby,

Twenty years ago Matthew Mackey-Smith wrote an article in which he discussed
"teaching" a horse to breathe deeper, thus necessitating fewer breaths per
minute.  The gist of it was:  Horses must breathe in rhythm with their
canter/gallop stride, breathing in as the body streches out with the second
beat, and exhailing because of the bellows effect of the visceral gut
socking them in the diaphram after the third beat .  

They "learn" to breathe in sync with their trot stride, and soon always do
so unless they need to throw in a gulping extra breath in order to keep up
with oxygen need..... this is a good clue from up in the saddle that one may
as well slow down, as you can't fool mother nature.  (He also mentioned that
they breathe in/out in rhythm with the rider's posting diagonal....they
switch when the rider switches diagonals.)  Since the trot rhythm is faster
than the canter rhythm from start of first beat til start of next first
beat, they breathe  faster, and hense more shallowly at the trot than at the
canter.

To teach a horse to breathe deeper at the trot, after the horse has been
thoroughly warmed up and is in working mode, canter at a moderate rate up a
hill that is at least 200 yards long, which has a flat at the top.  The
uphill canter will cause the horse to breathe deeply.  At the top, break to
the extended trot on the flatt, trying to keep a rhythm that approximates
the breathing rhythm that was happening at the canter.  The first few
breaths will be deep because the horse needs oxygen because of cantering up
the hill.  If you push him on at a lengthened stride trot, but  don't let
him speed up the beats, he will experience himself taking deep breaths, and
will learn from the experience.

Well......does it work?  Let me put it this way,....I have tried to perform
this manouver just out of curiosity, and found it isn't easy to tell if I'm
having an effect.  Then again, I wasn't riding a horse with a respiratory
glitch; I was just trying out his theory.

To teach a horse to breath deeper at the stand still, Kerry has mentioned
the old trick of lightly closing his nostrils for a few seconds, after which
he'll likely breathe deeper for at least a few breaths.   I've heard of
using this to snap a horse out of panting mode and into slower, deeper
respirations on a warm day....the thought being that some horses sort of get
stuck in panting mode when they are actually cool enough that they don't
need to be doing it any more.

Gayle Ecker at Guelph would be the person I'd ask re. the alkalosis
question.  Her email address is:   Gayle L Ecker <gecker@uoguelph.ca>

Also, Jerry Gillespie or some other research oriented vet might have an
insight at to how fast, shallow respiration relates to thumps.

I'd be curious know what you find out.

Good luck.....

Lari


Lari Shea                          	       http://www.horse-vacation.com
Ricochet Ridge Ranch	       Riding Vacations on the Mendocino Coast with	
24201 North Highway One	       Lodging at Unique B&B Inns; International Riding.
Fort Bragg, CA 95437	       Akhal Teke and Russian Orlov/cross horses
707-964-7669ph/ 707-964-9669 fax   At stud: RRR Stolichnaya & RRR Russia