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RE: [RC] WEC: final loops - heidiBut as far as selecting or breeding horses based on resting heart rate - I don't have solid numbers or statistics. It' seems logical that a large heart will give the horse a performance advantage, and the best horse I ever rode had a 24 resting heart rate . Can't say that I have statistics, either--just observations from vetting several thousand horses. But my take on this subject is that on one hand, a low resting heart rate is a part of the equation (and as Steph infers, may mean a large stroke volume), but that there are also other factors involved. I would not go so far as to say that a horse with a resting 24 is superior to a horse with a resting 36, but I would go so far as to say that you DO want to find a horse with a resting 36 or lower, and then you also want to see whether his heart rate elevates much due to "normal" stimulation--change in social setting, etc. One of the negative selective factors, IMO, is a horse whose pulse will spike up over such things as simply being led into a crowd, etc., no matter how low his resting rate--these are horses that give themselves jolts of adrenaline for reasons that don't warrant it, and they are apt to have issues. Bottom line--yes, a resting heart rate on the low end of clinically normal is a good thing, but it also has to be coupled with a metabolism that "doesn't sweat the small stuff" and all the other necessary metabolic features of a good endurance horse in order to ensure great recoveries and that "cool-running engine"... Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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