Champions have Big Hearts

Size matters in matters of the heart of an elite horse athlete.   

Taking a sample of 34 Arabian horses, 23 of them highly successful in endurance competitions, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania used an echocardiograph to measure the horses' hearts.

The star jock horses had larger left ventricles.  A bigger heart offers an advantage to the horse -more blood is being pumped into the muscles during exertion.

Other studies have shown similar findings in Thoroughbred and Standardbred racehorses. 

What researchers are wondering now involves the old nature vs. nurture question.  Were the big hearted horses that became great athletes born that way, or did their hearts get bigger thanks to lots of cardio exercise? 

More testing is necessary.  It will be difficult to conduct these tests.  Many many horse hearts will have to be measured before and after they become (or don't become) successful competitors.  Not only that, many horses begin extensive training before they are fully grown.  A not fully grown horse probably does not have a fully grown heart.



Still, it is a question to run with.

Competition Nerves in Horses and People

Everybody gets nervous before a competition, right?  Even though you practice and you are prepared for the event, you may still feel agitated at the time of competition.

Well, the Graf Lehndorff Institute for Equine Science teamed up with the Brandenburg State Stud in Neustadt, Germany and the University of Vienna, to study the competition nerves of horse and human teams.

Heart rates of the horses and their riders were monitored during at-home practice and while doing the identical activity in front of an audience in a competitive environment.

The findings: 
Both horses' and riders' heart rates increased while doing the activity.  The riders' heart rate increases were more marked when in competition than during practice (as were other cardiac measurements and amount of cortisol released), suggesting that human beings get nervous in competition but horses do not.

 

 

 

Based on these preliminary findings, it appears that horses don't feel pressure as much as people do.  Could it be, competitively speaking, better if the horse was the one primarily directing the team rather than the rider?

Appaloosa are Spot On

Appaloosas are best known for their spots.  The spots these horses sport vary from little pointillism dots to large blotches, or blankets,  in pretty much every color horses come in.

Cro-Magnon man drew pictures of spotted horses on cave walls.  Chinese Art from 500 BC displays horses with spots.  Greek and Persian heroes were said to ride beautiful spotted horses.

Spanish Conquistadors brought some of these horses to the New World in the 1500's.  The Nez Perce' tribe of the Pacific Northwest bred what they called the Palousy- named for a small river that flows into the Snake River in Southeastern Washington.  The Nez Perce' needed horses to help hunt buffalo.  That job required a quick, agile, brave and cooperative horse.  The Palousy was well suited to the job.  Their attractive appearance was a happy extra.  These selectively bred horses are considered the foundation of the Appaloosa. 

In the 1800's, the Indian Wars wiped out many of the horses.  In 1938 the Appaloosa Horse Club was formed to protect and preserve the breed.



Some Appaloosa Qualities

- height: 14.2-16 hands

- four general coat patterns:  blanket, spots, blanket with spots, and roan

-  the coat patterns are further described:  leopard, snowflake, frosted, marble

- the skin is mottled (spotted),  this is most noticeable on the genitals, muzzle and around the eyes

- white sclera- the white area encircling the iris of the eye is visible

- vertically striped hooves



Appaloosas are prized not only for their beauty but for their hardiness and versatility.  The Appaloosa is described as calm, gentle, sweet tempered, fast, docile, and enthusiastic- just to name a few of the compliments heaped on this splendid horse. 

The Appaloosa is adept in both western and eastern applications.  Here's a list of Appaloosa accomplishments:

pleasure riding
harness horse
parade
roping
barrel racing
distance competition
dressage
jumping
polo
middle distance  (220 yards/ 8 furlongs) racing
service horses for the handicapped
mounted police





for more information:
http://www.icaainc.com/breed_standards.htm

see some nice pictures:
http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-breeds/profiles/appaloosa-horse.aspx