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High altitude acclimatization and athletic performance in horses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Steven J Wickler  and
Holly M Greene
Steven J Wickler*
Affiliation:
Equine Research Center, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA 91768, USA and University of California, White Mountain Research Station, Bishop, CA, USA
Holly M Greene
Affiliation:
Equine Research Center, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA 91768, USA and University of California, White Mountain Research Station, Bishop, CA, USA
*
*sjwickler@csupomona.edu
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Abstract

High altitude acclimatization produces a suite of physiological changes that might support an improved athletic performance at low altitude and thus lead to the strategy of athletic training at high altitude. Although there is substantial literature on high altitude physiology in humans, there are few studies on horses. Our interest in the physiological responses to high altitude in equids has been driven by the concerns of how athletic performance is altered at altitude and how conditioning at altitude may improve performance subsequently at low altitude. This review serves to illustrate what is currently know about the physiological changes of horses to altitude, at rest and during exercise, and to highlight how performance is impacted both at high altitude and subsequent return to low altitude.

Keywords

hypoxaemia2,3-diphosphoglyceratepulmonary artery pressureshypoxiaequine
Type
Research Article
Information
Equine and Comparative Exercise Physiology , Volume 1 , Issue 3 , August 2004 , pp. 167 - 170
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

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