Effect of training on intrinsic and resting heart rate and plasma volume in young and old horses

The chronic bradycardia seen in several species after intense exercise training may be due to autonomic mechanisms, non-autonomic mechanisms, such as increased pre-load, or a combination of the two. Thirteen, healthy, unfit Standardbred mares were split into two groups: young (age 12±1 yr; mean ± standard error, n=8) and old (age 22±1 yr, n=5) to test the hypothesis that there would be age and training related differences in resting heart rate (RHR), intrinsic heart rate (IHR), maximal heart rate (HR max ) and plasma volume (PV). Mares were trained 3 d/wk at 60% HR max for 20 min and gradually increased to exercising 5 d/wk at 70% HR max for 30 min and RHR, IHR, HR max , and PV were measured prior to and after the 8 wk training period. There were no age related differences ( P ≯0.05) between young and old mares before (41±2 vs. 42±2 beats per minute (bpm); 86±5 vs. 80±4 bpm) or after training (35±1 vs. 34±1 bpm; 81±6 vs. 78±2 bpm) for RHR and IHR respectively. RHR was decreased ( P< 0.05) following training in both the young (41±2 vs. 35±1 bpm) and old mares (42±2 vs. 34±2 bpm). Training decreased IHR ( P <0.05) in the young mares (86±5 vs. 81±6 bpm), but not ( P ≯0.05) the old mares (80±4 vs. 78±2 bpm). The young horses had a higher HR max than the old horses ( P <0.05) both before (216±5 vs. 200±4 bpm) and after training (218±3 vs. 197±5 bpm). Maximal heart rate was not altered after training ( P ≯0.05) in either young (216±5 vs. 218±3 bpm) or old (200±4 vs. 197±5 bpm) mares. The PV of the young mares was 15% higher before training and 32% higher after training when compared to the old mares ( P <0.05). Training caused an increase in PV in young mares (+9%; P <0.05), but did not alter PV in old mares (-5%; P ≯0.05). Training improved RHR in the young but not the old horses. The decrease in measured parameters in the young horses appears to be related to enhanced pre-load associated with a training-induced hypervolemia as well as changes in autonomic function.