title: Subclinical diseases underlying poor performance in endurance horses: diagnostic methods and predictive tests.
abstract: Thirty-eight endurance horses underwent clinical and ancillary examinations, including haematological and biochemical evaluation, standardised exercise tests both on a treadmill and in the field, Doppler echocardiography, impulse oscillometry, video endoscopy and collection of respiratory fluids. All of the examined poorly performing horses were affected by subclinical diseases, and most of them had multiple concomitant disorders. On the contrary, the well-performing horses were free of any subclinical disease. The most frequently diagnosed diseases were respiratory disorders, followed by musculoskeletal and cardiac problems. Poor performers exhibited lower speeds at blood lactate concentration of 4 mmol/l (VLA4) and at heart rates of 160 (V160) and 200 bpm (V200) on the treadmill and in the field, as well as slower recovery of heart rate.
authors.affiliation: Equine Sports Medicine Centre, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liege, B-4000 Liege, Belgium. audrey.fraipont@ulg.ac.be
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fraipont
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Van Erck
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ramery
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Richard
authors.forename: J-M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Denoix
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lekeux
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Art
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001784:Blood Gas Analysis / Q000662:veterinary; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006736:Horses; D007773:Lactates / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D010805:Physical Conditioning, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000502:physiology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000662:veterinary*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D007773:Lactates