The Effect of Horse Age and Competitive Season on Stress Indicators in Jumping Horses in Running Track

Aiming determination of the effect of horse age and competitive season (May, July, September) on stress indicators in jumping horses in running track, research was performed on 14 studs (7 younger, and 7 older) trained and bred in the same conditions. The stress indicators (heartbeats, cortisol, glucose, and lactate concentrations in saliva) were measured or sampled before, during and at the end of the training - running track. The significance of the differences in stress indicators due to horse age regarding the competitive season was tested by t-test (PROC GLM, SAS/STAT). Based on conducted research it could be concluded that all analyzed stress indicators: heartbeats, and cortisol, glucose, and lactate concentrations in saliva, during the entire competitive season, were higher in younger (less experienced) comparing to older (more experienced) horses. Furthermore, all analyzed stress indicators were highest in July that is in the peak of competitive season. Since every physical activity causes a certain amount of stress, monitoring of stress indicators, especially heart-beats could be used for routine evaluation of horse preparedness for a particular activity.