Research on the Factors Affecting the Performance of Sport Horses—Second Edition
A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Equids".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 May 2025 | Viewed by 3458
Special Issue Editors
Interests: exercise physiology; animal welfare; equine sport medicine; equine sport performance; exercise test; lameness; rehabilitation; training; musculoskeletal ultrasound; clinical analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: equine exercise physiology; equine sport medicine; equine sport performance; exercise test; lameness; rehabilitation; training
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: physiology; exercise physiology; animal welfare; animal reproduction; applied physiology; equine; animal production
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In this new issue of the Animals journal, we welcome the submission of original clinical research or reviews on equine exercise physiology and sports medicine, regarding the following topics: 1) physical fitness assessment; 2) implementation of measures, strategies, and techniques to enhance sports performance; 3) use of innovative diagnostic techniques for performance loss; 4) studies regarding horse–rider interactions; 5) welfare in equine sports.
Horses are incredible athletes, being able to perform exercises of different duration and intensity requiring great technical skills, in a perfect combination of endurance, speed and strength. The assessment of fitness is essential in order to design and modify a training program that highlights the greatest athletic potential and limits the unnecessary repetition of exercises that lead to mechanical and functional overload. In recent years, the application of various management, training, nutritional, and physiotherapeutic techniques has reached great relevance in an attempt to enhance fitness. On many of these therapies or strategies, in-depth research is needed to confirm their effects or to evaluate various application protocols or procedures.
Despite the increase in our knowledge regarding the physiology and pathophysiology of exercise, the reduction in sports performance is very common in these athletes and the diagnosis of the underlying reasons is a very relevant clinical area and sometimes a challenge for the clinician. Improvements in diagnostic, laboratory, imaging techniques and the development of portable techniques, available for use in a field setting, have led to more accurate diagnoses. In addition to the numerous causes of lameness, the limitation of aerobic capacity, associated with one or several steps in the oxygen transport chain, and/or in the anaerobic capacity, should be evaluated in any sport horse, depending on the discipline in which the horse competes. In addition, equestrian exercise is carried out by a rider–horse couple; thus, the rider is essential for achieving competitive success. In addition, in this Special Issue, we consider studies on welfare in the sport horse to be relevant.
Dr. Francisco Requena
Dr. Ana Muñoz
Prof. Dr. Estrella Agüera
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
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Keywords
- exercise physiology
- animal welfare
- equine sport medicine
- equine sport performance
- exercise test
- loss of performance
- lameness
- rehabilitation
- training
- musculoskeletal ultrasound
- clinical analysis
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Related Special Issue
- Research on the Factors Affecting the Performance of Sport Horses in Animals (11 articles)