A 6-Week Training Protocol Reduces Energy Consumption in Young Lusitano Horses Used in Dressage

The present work aimed to evaluate the influence of a training programme on energy expenditure (EE), cost of transport (COT, cardiac beats to move the body mass during exercise) and metabolic power (Pmet) in young Purebred Lusitano horses used in dressage. With this purpose, nine male horses, ~4 years old, were evaluated before (M1) and after 6 weeks (M2) of a training programme that included 40-80 min of preparatory dressage exercises, 6×/week, individually adjusted. In M1 and M2, the animals were examined in a dressage field test (DFT), when heart rate (HR) and respiratory rate (RR), body temperature (BT) and blood lactate were recorded. In DFT, the horses used a cardiac monitor (Polar H10) for calculation using the formulas: EE (J/kg/min) = 0.0566 × HR^1.9955, COT = (HR_effort-HR_basal)/kg/m × 10³ and Pmet (beats/min/kg) = (HR - 35)/min/kg. The training led to a significant reduction in EE (799.9 vs. 682.8 J/min; p = 0.037) and COT (0.73 vs. 0.59 bpm/kg/m × 10³; p = 0.042), without change in Pmet. Furthermore, a significant increase in peak of speed was observed (5.81 vs. 7.36 m/s; p = 0.0161). It was possible to conclude that the proposed training protocol led to greater efficiency in locomotion costs, with lower EE and COT values.