Effect of Physical Exercise in Hemogasometric and Electrolytic Profiles of Young Mangalarga Marchador Horses Beginning Training for Gait Competitions

•Gait exercise affected pO2, sO2, Ca2+, and glucose levels in young horses.•Gait exercise did not cause dehydration in young horses.•Young gaited horses showed good adaptation to exercise. This study aimed to analyze effect of physical exercise in hemogasometric and electrolytic profiles of young Mangalarga Marchador horses beginning training for gait competitions. Six Mangalarga Marchador gaited horses with 6 months of training were evaluated. The ages ranged from three and a half to five years and included four stallions and two mares, with mean (±S.D.) body weight of 435±30Kg. Venous blood samples were collected from the horses, rectal temperature and HR were measured before and immediately after the gait test, and blood samples were used for hemogasometric and laboratory analyses. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used in the statistical analysis, assigning statistical significance for values of (p ≤ .05). Physical effort significantly affected HR (p ≤ .027), temperature (T) (p ≤ .028), oxygen pressure (pO2) (p ≤ .027), oxygen saturation (sO2) (p ≤ .046), calcium (Ca2+) (p ≤ .046), and glucose levels (GLI) (p ≤ .028). The heart rate, temperature, and pO2, sO2, Ca2+, and glucose levels were affected by exercise. There was no considerable dehydration in these horses, making it clear that, at this level of effort, they did not enter a state of, indicating that the animals, even young horses, were well conditioned to the submaximal effort required in gaiting tests. The horses showed good adaptation to exercise and did not enter a state of fatigue with the effort made, indicating that the animals in this study received adequate training and could perform the type of exercise proposed, characterized by a submaximal effort.