title: Relationship of heart rate and electrocardiographic time intervals to body mass in horses and ponies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationship of heart rate (HR) and ECG time intervals to body weight (BWT) in healthy horses and ponies. We hypothesized that HR and ECG time intervals are related to BWT.
  
  
  METHODS
  250 healthy horses of >30 breeds; 5.5 (1-30) y [median (range)]; 479 (46-1018) kg.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective study. Standard base-apex ECGs were recorded while the horses were standing quietly in a box stall. Mean HR over 15 s was calculated and RR interval, PQ interval, QRS duration, and QT interval were measured by a single observer.QT was corrected for differences in heart rate using Fridericia's formula (QT(cf) = QT/(3)√RR). The relationship between ECG variables and BWT, age, sex, and RR interval was assessed using multivariate backward stepwise regression analyses. Goodness of fit of the model was improved when using log(BWT) compared to BWT. Body weight was overall the strongest predictor of HR and ECG time intervals. Therefore, only log(BWT) was included as an independent variable in the final model. The level of significance was p = 0.05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HR (R(2) = 0.21) showed a significant negative relationship and PQ (R(2) = 0.53), QRS (R(2) = 0.23), QT (R(2) = 0.14), and QT(cf) (R(2) = 0.02) showed significant positive relationships to log(BWT).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Small equine breeds undergoing routine ECG recordings have slightly faster heart rates and shorter ECG time intervals compared to larger equine breeds. Although the magnitude of absolute differences may be small, body weight needs to be considered among other factors when comparing HR and ECG time intervals to normal ranges in horses.
authors.affiliation: Equine Department, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 260, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland. cschwarzwald@vetclinics.uzh.ch
authors.forename: Colin C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Schwarzwald
authors.forename: Miki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kedo
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Birkmann
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Hamlin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006736:Horses / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male