A new Michigan State University study has shown that calves need minimal exercise to build strong and healthy bone; the researchers feel that these findings will be applicable to young horses, as well.
Drs. Alyssa Logan, Brian Nielsen, Cara Robison, Jane Manfredi, Daniel Buskirk, Harold Schott and Kristina Hiney found that calves need only one short sprint per week to increase bone strength in their lower legs. The study used calves that sprinted for 71 meters one, three times or five times a week; each group’s bone improved. These groups were compared with calves that did not receive exercise and were confined.
Calves that sprinted once a week had a 26 percent increase in fracture force compared with the non-exercised calves. This is of interest as the calves had only sprinted 426 meters when the experiment ended.
The researchers concluded that very few strides at speed were necessary to increase bone health; it also showed that lack of loading from exercise for just 6 weeks can have a detrimental affect on bone strength.
They compare these findings to horses that enter race training; these horses are taken off of pasture and put in stalls, and are taught slow work like walking, trotting and cantering before any speed work is added in. The correlation between the calves and horses indicates that the horses in race training lose bone mineral content when cared for this way.
The scientists infer that sprinting horses short distances should increase bone strength and reduce the risk of catastrophic injury during their racing career. The call for more research to determine if the young horses who are asked to sprint at least one day a week can maintain heightened bone strength as they mature.
Read the study here.
Read more at HorseTalk.
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