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Horserace Betting Levy Board
5th Floor
21 Bloomsbury Street
London WC1B 3HF
Tel: 020 7333 0043
Fax: 020 7333 0041
Web: www.hblb.org.uk
Email: [email protected]
Can breathing muscle testing
and breathing muscle training
be performed in the equine
athlete using similar methods
to human athletes?
SPrj:004
Development of a novel technique for
assessing and improving respiratory
performance in racehorses
Dr Kate Allen & Prof. Alison McConnell
University of Bristol
Bournemouth University
Background 1:
Breathing muscles
• During intense exercise in human athletes, the huge demand placed on
the breathing muscles, particularly the diaphragm, can result in
breathing muscle fatigue
• Overloading the breathing muscles induces a reflex that reduces blood
supply to the exercising leg muscles, which reduces delivery of
oxygen, hastens limb fatigue and results in a decrease in exercise
performance
• Fatigue of the diaphragm may also reduce airflow and increase in the
perceived effort of exercise, which further reduces exercise
performance
• The extent to which breathing muscle fatigue affects performance in
racehorses is unknown. However, as the racehorse is already
considered to be limited by breathing, it is highly likely that these
mechanisms could play an important role in fatigue on the racetrack
Background 2: Upper
airway muscles
• Upper airway (throat) obstructions can occur when the muscles of
the upper airway are too weak or fatigued to keep the airway
stable when exposed to the breathing demands during galloping
Aryepiglottic fold collapse; laryngeal collapse; epiglottic retroversion; dorsal displacement of the soft palate
• Most ‘wind’ surgeries attempt to provide a mechanical solution and
at present there is no method of increasing the strength of the
upper airway muscles
Background 3: Breathing
muscle training
• Breathing muscle training improves
athletic performance in humans in a wide
range of sporting disciplines by preventing
overload of breathing muscles
• Breathing muscle training is also a
successful treatment for upper airway
obstructions in human athletes
Reasons why the study
was performed
• There was no method to measure
breathing muscle performance in equine
athletes, and
• no methods to specifically improve the
performance of the upper airway or
breathing muscles of equine athletes
Relevance to the
Thoroughbred
• The prevalence of upper airway (throat) obstructions in
racehorses is high and these conditions pose significant
performance, health, welfare and economic concerns to the
UK Thoroughbred industry
• Developing a method for specific breathing and upper
airway muscle training may increase the performance of
these muscles and hence prevent (or treat) upper airway
collapse, and improve performance
• Developing a method for assessing breathing muscle
strength would enable us to determine whether the
breathing muscles fatigue during racing in horses, as they
do in human athletes
Aims of this study
• The purpose of this project was to develop
equipment and methods for breathing
muscle testing and breathing muscle
training in racehorses
Objectives
The project had 4 objectives:
• To adapt [human] equipment for measuring breathing
muscle performance for use in the horse
• To identify the most appropriate method to measure
breathing muscle performance
• To assess the repeatability of this measure
• To develop a breathing muscle training device and assess
the feasibility of its use in the horse
Summary of what was
done
• We successfully manufactured and/or
adapted equipment to assess breathing
muscle strength, and then developed and
tested protocols for its use
• We successfully manufactured and
adapted equipment for breathing muscle
training
Main results and
conclusion
• Breathing muscle testing
The images show the equipment in use. We
developed and validated an incremental loading
protocol that provides a repeatable index of
breathing muscle strength
Main results and
conclusions
• Breathing muscle training
The images show the equipment we developed to
enable us to undertake breathing muscle training in
the horse. The equipment and technique is
extremely well tolerated
Impact on the
Thoroughbred
• This initial project will enable a new and exciting
area of research to be undertaken, which has the
potential to develop our understanding of the role
of the breathing muscles in performance
limitation in the Thoroughbred, and to provide
revolutionary strategies to ameliorate the high
prevalence of upper airway obstructions
Potential next steps
• This equipment development opens up an innovative
area of research in the Thoroughbred racehorse and
is already permitting further studies to take place to
investigate the efficacy of breathing muscle training
as a treatment for upper airway collapse
• Further research is planned to characterise the
effects of conventional training programs upon
breathing muscle function, and to identify the extent
to which the performance of equine athletes can be
improved by specific breathing muscle training