Re: Fun with Fitness!!

[Linda Cowles <linda_cowles@mentorg.com>]

Hi,

Tivers@aol.com wrote:
> linda_cowles@mentorg.com writes:
> 
> <<  don't know if size has much to do with higher heart rates when it
>  comes to smaller horses... my little Kadance (aka Death Wish aka Buzz
>  Saw) is tiny (may not even be 13.3), is extremely excitable, and has a
>  resting pulse that hovers around 40, and I have to ride him VERY hard to
>  get his pulse over 150... even when he's carrying over 200 pounds!
> 
>  Gavilan has finished 4 50's and 2 NATRC rides very well this year, is
>  conditioned consistently but not hard (it's his first year), and yet
>  marginally conditioned Kadance runs the socks off of him in every way...
>  heart rate included. Kadance's HR is usually 8 to 10 bpm's under any
>  other conditioned horse we're with even is he hasn't been conditioned...
>  I would love to know why... >>
> 
> Interesting. Especially the 200 lbs part--what you may be making up for in
> biomechanical efficiency you're reloading in carry weight.
> 
> If your vet has an ultrasound machine you could measure the left ventricle
> diameter of both horses, and the contractile fraction, and report back to
> us--in the interest of science, of course.

I'd love to see what his heart looks like! I'll check with my vet and
see if he can do this. You think he may have a significantly larger left
ventricle? I've always wondered if his whole heart might be
proportionately large, and with that small body, just doesn't have to
beat as much. For a small horse, he's heavy. Is built like a tank. He
probably weighs close to what 15.1 Gavilan weighs...

I can also do hill work on both of them and note HR changes. It's not
science, but it's interesting. 

Kadance's HR amazed me because it's so much better than my other horses,
but he's a hot little jack rabbit... anxious and competitive. I would
expect his HR to be high because he's so excitable. Gav, on the other
hand is larger (15.1) and very easy (I ride him in a halter). We don't
go slow, but not fast either. He finished 2nd on his last ride carrying
a heavyweight, but it was a slow, cold, wet, ride and he's a frog in the
mud... he's a horse with 4 corners and a solid center... he didn't get
that 2nd by going fast. Gavilan is as steady as Kadance is volatile.

I'll let you know what, if anything, comes of this.

Happy Holidays!

Linda