Electrocardiography Parameters Recorded With Holter Monitoring in Sport and Work Horses Before and After Physical Activity

Electrocardiography (ECG) is critically important for monitoring of heart rhythm and for diagnosis of arrhythmias. Holter monitoring is particularly valuable when anamnestic data indicate arrhythmia, syncope or when arrhythmia cannot be diagnosed using ECG assessment before, during or after training. The aim of this study was to use Holter monitoring over 24-hour intervals to investigate ECG parameters (amplitudes and intervals) in sport and work group horses at rest and after physical activity. Seventeen Arabian horses and 20 Bosnian Mountain ponies comprised sport and work horse groups for the study, respectively. All horses were outfitted with Holter ECG Televet 100 devices for continuous electrocardiogram recording. Exercise for sport group horses involved endurance riding on a 10 km long cross-country trail. Work group horses extracted of logs (approx. 250 kg each) from limited access logging areas on a trail up to a few hundred meters long. Statistical analysis of mean ECG parameters between sport and workhorses before and after physical activity was performed by independent Student’s t-test (two-tail, assuming unequal variances). p<0.05 was used as the level for significance. Results indicate that before and after physical activity, T amplitude was higher in sport compared to work group horses. Further, after physical activity, the QRS complex interval was longer in sport compared to work group horses.

Cite this article as: Šaljić, E., Šerić-Haračić, S., Hodžić, A., Tandır, F., Ćutuk, A., Hadžimusić, N., 2020. Electrocardiography Parameters Recorded With Holter Monitoring in Sport and Work Horses Before and After Physical Activity. Acta Vet Eurasia 46, 24-29.