Aqua treadmill is mainly used for rehabilitation purposes, but research indicates that this equipment could be used for training as well. The few studies performed with aqua treadmill mainly followed lactate and heart rate changes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to test the effect of high water treadmill training on several blood parameters and on the correlations between them. Eight similarly trained Standardbred show jumper horse competing at the same level were selected with age between 6 to 11 years. The horses were subjected to a one week standardized exercise test which included normal training, training with show jumping and aqua treadmill training. The aqua treadmill training consisted of a 10 min walk (filling up, 4.5 km/h), 30 min trot (13 km/h) and 4 min walk (emptying, 4.5 km/h). Blood samples were taken from the jugular vein before aqua training, at the completion of each work bout, after drying and after one and two hour rest. Blood plasma were separated and lactate, LDH, CK, AST, glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, total-bilirubin and cortisol level were determined. In conclusion plasma lactate response itself does not reflect correctly the intensity of workload in high water level aqua training, therefore measurement of several blood parameters is advisable. Further studies needed to understand the relationship of metabolic processes altered due to the effect of partial water submersion.

horse; blood parameters; aqua treadmill; training

Published by University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagreb, CROATIA
Sponsored by Ministry Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia