Echocardiography is a noninvasive and accurate evaluation of cardiac abnormalities in horses, thereby determining those animals that show better adaptation to exercise and conditioning to which they were submitted. The aim of this study was to verify by echocardiographic M-mode and two-dimensional cardiac functional indices of 15 purebred Arabian horses, nine males and six females, ranging in age from 6 to 12 years, subjected to different intensities prolonged endurance exercise. Thus, both groups were divided into three, in which four animals traveled 30km (GI), six animals traveled 90km (GII) and five animals traveled 120km (GIII). Assessments occurred before the start of each test and was considered the time zero (M0); 30 minutes after running through the last ring of the race characterized the final moment (Mf). Before the treatment there were no statistically significant differences between the indexes obtained in the M0 and Mf of GI. Otherwise, it was observed statistical difference in GII for stroke volume, heart rate, left ventricular internal diameter in diastole and systole, and in GIII for stroke volume, heart rate, left ventricular internal diameter in diastole and systole and interventricular septal thickness in diastole. So endurance horses echocardiography revealed that the exercise enabled the assessment of cardiac functional indexes according to the intensity of the exercise tax.
endurance; echocardiography; horse
