The Standardbred trotter must pull a considerable load when racing and, consequently, draught loading is a common method of training in the Standardbred and the effects of loading and @entity1295 due to loading on the locomotor pattern was the purpose of this investigation. Four mature healthy Standardbred @entity1641 trotted with and without a horizontal-pulling loading of 34 kg until the @entity1641 were no longer willing to keep pace with the treadmill despite encouragement. Heart rate was monitored every min using a bipolar electrocardiogram. The kinematics for 5 consecutive strides were filmed. @entity1641 exercised on the treadmill for 7-10 mins. The mean heart rate was 206 beats/min at the end of the exercise. Due to draught loading, the @entity1641 reduced significantly the time of the stance phase in both the fore- and hindlimb. Three of the 4 @entity1641 reduced their stride lengths as the result of increased loading. The general movement pattern of the @entity1641 remained similar. More dramatic changes in the movement pattern were observed because of @entity1295 . The limbs of the @entity1641 were significantly more compressed as the result of greater joint excursion during the stance phase. Furthermore, the length of stride was significantly increased as the result of @entity1295 . The results show that both loading and @entity1295 change the locomotor pattern of the Standardbred trotter. Although the horizontal loading was considerable, the @entity1641 maintained similar joint movement with increases in stride frequency. During @entity1295 the @entity1641 seems to be unable to maintain stride frequency, probably due to a compromised power capacity of the muscles. The increase in joint excursion due to @entity1295 may have an important influence on certain types of @entity717 of the racehorse.

The kinematics of loading and XXXX in the standardbred trotter.

@entity717 :: ('MESH:D009069', 'Disease') :: ['injury to the locomotor system'] @entity1641 :: ('9796', 'Species') :: ['Horses', 'horse', 'horses'] @entity1295 :: ('MESH:D005221', 'Disease') :: ['fatigue']
@entity1295 :: (MESH:D005221,Disease) :: ['fatigue']
