Tech advances - opportunities for trainers

By Alysen Miller

From heart rate monitors to GPS trackers, smart treadmills to light masks and even Artificial Intelligence, a plethora of new technologies has breezed onto the market in recent years, all claiming to offer trainers an edge in a sport where every pixel in a photo finish counts. And it’s not just on the gallops where their impact is being felt; everywhere from the barn to the breeding shed, a raft of new gadgets is quietly powering a technological revolution that has the power to reshape the racing industry. So in this brave new world, how do trainers ensure that they are exploiting every possible technological advantage at their disposal in their quest to leave no margin left ungained?

The reality is that, in an increasingly data-driven world, racing has been ironically slow to catch on to technologies that have already become mainstream in sports ranging from running to cycling. Every MAMIL (middle-aged man in lycra) worth his electrolyte gel has his own GPS tracker fitted to his carbon fibre bike. Now, companies such as Arioneo and Gmax are helping the racing industry catch up to the peloton by providing real-time exercise data, allowing trainers to track horses’ speed, cadence, sectional times and stride length, as well as heart rate and other biometrics using a device fitted to the horse’s girth. These data are then fed back to an app, allowing every aspect of the horse’s work and recovery to be assessed. 

Lambourn-based husband and wife team Claire and Daniel Kübler were easily adaptable to the cause. “We did a lot of research when we started training, going, “OK, what’s out there to actually put a bit more science behind what people do”? There’s so much data, so the more you can have, the better decisions you’re going to make”, explains Claire. “I started graphing out the data that we gathered, looking at frequency of stride to see where horses [and trip] correlate. It has actually helped to pinpoint when a horse does want a distance or it when it wants dropping back to a more speed trip. So it was really useful to help decide which way to go”. 

Horse wearing a heart rate monitor and GPS tracker.

Armed with a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University, Kübler realised that the concept of marginal gains (European Trainer - December 2015 - issue 52) was as relevant to the racing industry as it was to other sports. Popularised by Sir David Brailsford—the erstwhile head of British Cycling and latterly doyen of professional cycling behemoth Team Ineos (formerly Team Sky)—the theory of marginal gains states that if you break down every element you can think of that goes into the performance of an athlete, and then improve each element by 1%, you will achieve a significant aggregated increase in performance. 

“The optimum is getting 100% out of a horse. But for us, every little bit of marginal gain can hopefully get the most out of each individual”,

Artificial Intelligence (AI) may conjure images of a dystopian future, but it is already being used in technologies available to trainers in the United States and Canada. Billed as the world’s first ‘smart halter’, or headcollar, Nightwatch was developed by Texas-based Protequus to monitor horses while they are in their stables overnight. “Unlike a lot of other wearables, this technology is based on an AI platform, which means that it learns every animal’s unique physiology and looks for deviations in that physiology that correlate with pain or distress and will send a text, phone and email to you so you can intervene at the earliest signs of a possible problem”, says the company’s Founder and CEO, Jeffrey Schab. The company is aiming to make Nightwatch available to European consumers by 2020.

If the worst does happen, a host of companies are harvesting the latest tech to aid in pain management and rehabilitation. Among these is the ArcEquine, a wearable brace that delivers a microcurrent to aid in the repair of soft tissue injuries by increasing levels of Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) within affected cells. While the benefits of water therapy and treadmills have long been recognised by trainers, the latest gadget from ECB is a smart water treadmill that essentially functions as a Fitbit for horses. Not only does it incorporate salt- and cold-water functions as well as an incline feature, the treadmill comes with a built-in computer that allows the user to set programmes for particular horses, while feeding this data back to a phone or tablet for analysis. “By playing around with speed, water depth and incline, you can target specific muscles, control the heart rate, dictate the horse’s stride length and work on the horse’s straightness,” says Richard Norden, sales and marketing manager.

Elsewhere, scientists are working on ways to help increase athletic performance even when a horse is resting. Dr Barbara Murphy, Head of Equine Science at University College Dublin, has pioneered the use of light therapy on racehorses. Her smart lighting system mimics the effects of natural daylight by exposing horses to the correct spectral intensity of light to synchronise their internal clock. This has been shown to have performance-enhancing benefits, as well as increasing reproductive efficiency in broodmares. Essentially, natural daylight has a high amount of blue, short wavelength light. This blue light targets special photoreceptors in the eye that stimulate the circadian control centre in the brain, boosting activity, metabolism and alertness. 

“When we consider that horses have evolved outdoors under natural photoperiods, they received high intensity blue-enriched light by day, then the sun goes down and they experienced un-interrupted darkness at night. These continuous fluctuating light-dark cycles maintained their strong body rhythms. In contrast, when we stable horses in a box for up to 22 hours a day, it’s really important that we give them the light stimulus that allows their body to work as best as it can,”explains Murphy. Her company, Equilume, offers stable lighting systems and futuristic-looking light masks that shine low-level blue light directly into the horse’s eye. While the importance of correct lighting is only just beginning to be understood, it should not be underestimated, according to Murphy. “We spend so much money on nutrition, training surfaces and veterinary care, [but] the single environmental cue that makes everything work in synchrony in the horse’s body is the light that they receive through their eyes. Temperature and food plays a role, but it doesn’t play as important a role as light. So by improving lighting we can ensure that horses get better value out of their feed, out of their training, out of all other aspects of their management.”

It is not only in the area of performance that technology is playing a role. Programmes such as Stable IT and Equine Medirecord help trainers achieve gains at the margins through maximising efficiency. “The last thing you want to be dealing with is paperwork”, says Pierce Dargan, founder of Equine Medirecord. “Especially paperwork that, if you get it wrong, you can get fined and end up in the papers, or even get criminally prosecuted”…

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Racing Power- supporting muscular effort through nutrition

By Dr Catherine Dunnett

The powerhouse for a horse in training is found in its large muscle mass. Whilst genetic makeup within the Thoroughbred breed has a large impact on a horse’s innate racing ability, dietary factors will also influence subsequent performance.

 There are many elements found in a racehorse’s diet that will help to support muscle function. Hydrolysable carbohydrate (sugar and starch), assisted by fermentable fibre, will help to maintain important muscle stores of glycogen (a carbohydrate fuel).  Dietary electrolytes, which are integrally involved in muscle contraction, are essential to offset electrolyte loss in sweat. Key dietary antioxidants such as vitamins E and C and also antioxidant co-factors, such as copper, manganese, zinc and selenium, are also important as part of the body’s antioxidant team which strives to reduce the formation of free radicals or reactive oxygen species, and to limit their damaging effects on the body.  Free radical damage has previously been implicated in the process of exercise induced muscle damage.

GLYCOGEN STORES MUST BE REPLENISHED FOLLOWING EXERCISE


One of the most important functions of the diet is to replenish the horse’s energy stores in muscle on an ongoing basis.    A racing ration needs to support the synthesis of glycogen to maintain the store of this important fuel, which is used in increasing amounts during exercise.  Glycogen, which consists of a large branched chain of glucose units, is stored in both skeletal muscle and the liver and it represents one of the largest potential energy stores in the body. Horses being natural athletes, have a relatively large muscle glycogen store when compared to other species.  As the glycogen content of horse muscle is influenced by the proportion of different muscle fibre types present, this means that there is a genetic influence on the overall glycogen content.   
Fast twitch fibres (Type IIb), which are found in increased numbers in talented sprinting horses, store relatively more glycogen than the slower type I and type IIa fibres.  However, both diet and training can influence the level of glycogen stored in muscle.  Exercise training for example has been reported to increase muscle glycogen content by 30-60% in horses.

Logically, diet should have a significant effect on the storage of muscle glycogen as it provides the building blocks for glycogen synthesis.  Glycogen can be synthesised efficiently from dietary starch, which is another polymer of glucose found in cereals.  Glycogen can also be produced from certain glycogenic amino acids, released from the protein content of feed. In addition, propionic acid, which is a significant volatile fatty acid produced in the horse’s hindgut during the fermentation process, can also ultimately be converted to muscle glycogen.   In terms of the day to day diet, starch is by far the most direct and most efficient precursor for glycogen and so it is therefore not surprising that cereals, which are high in starch, have been the mainstay of racing diets for many years.

In recent years we have seen the introduction of racing feeds that are lower in starch and sugar than traditional racing rations, with a greater emphasis being placed on digestible fibre and oil as energy sources. Whilst there are many health benefits attributable to this type of diet, the effect of changing the level of starch in the diet on muscle glycogen should always be considered.

MUSCLE GLYCOGEN - 
AN IMPORTANT FUEL BUT NOT THE KEY FACTOR IN FATIGUE


Muscle glycogen is a major source of energy (ATP) to working muscle during intense exercise, which is characteristic of racing.  The amount of muscle glycogen used during training or racing will depend on its rate of utilisation, which in turn is affected by the speed and duration of the exercise undertaken.  In general terms, the higher the speed, the faster muscle glycogen is broken down and used. The duration of fast exercise is normally curtailed, which limits the overall amount of glycogen used.  During slower work, although the rate of glycogen utilisation is much lower, exercise can usually be continued for a much longer time allowing more glycogen to be utilised overall (see figure 1).

Total muscle glycogen content can be reduced by about 30% during a single bout of maximal exercise in horses.  However, as muscle is a mix of different fibre types, the depletion of glycogen in individual fibres may be greater than this depending on the pattern of fibre recruitment during the exercise.  Studies, however, have shown that even the IIB muscle fibres, which use glycogen at the fastest rate, are not totally depleted of glycogen following racing.  This supports the notion that although glycogen is an important fuel source for racehorses, glycogen depletion is not the most important factor in fatigue.  However, exercise studies do suggest that power output and exercise performance can be decreased in horses where muscle glycogen has failed to be adequately replaced following a previous race or piece of hard work.  This was the conclusion drawn by Lacombe and co-workers (2001) who reported that horses with replete muscle glycogen stores were able to run for longer periods during a maximal exercise test compared to horses whose muscle glycogen level remained low following a previous exercise bout.  
Whilst there are always horses that will buck the trend, this research emphasises the need to allow a suitable period of time between races, but also between bouts of fast work and subsequent racing to allow muscle glycogen stores to be replenished.

From a practical viewpoint, I would say that the ability of a racing diet to support muscle glycogen synthesis remains important.  In contrast to human athletes, muscle glycogen replenishment in horses is relatively slow.  Following racing or a hard work, research suggests that muscle glycogen can take up to 72 hours to return to pre-exercise levels when a traditional high cereal racing ration is fed.

Certainly research carried out in the past 3 years would suggest that a high glycemic racing ration would be better placed to support glycogen replenishment more quickly following racing or hard work.  There are many factors that affect the glycemic response to feed, which in simple terms describes the relative rise in blood glucose following feeding. The starch and sugar content of a feed, however, is one of the most significant factors affecting glycemic response.  Feeds that are high in starch and sugar e.g. a high cereal-containing mix produce a greater glycemic response compared with feeds that are very low in starch and sugar e.g. a forage only ration. 
Rate of glycogen synthesis following a glycogen depleting exercise bout was significantly higher in horses fed a high glycemic diet compared to those fed a very low glycemic control diet (Lacombe et al 2004, Lacombe et al 2006).  In addition, absolute glycogen concentration in muscle was significantly higher both 48 and 72 hours following exercise in the high glycemic group compared to the control horses and muscle glycogen concentration had returned to pre-exercise levels following 72 hours.   
 
The benefit of a high glycemic diet for glycogen repletion does, however, appear to be time dependent.  Jose-Cunelleras (et al 2006) reported a minimal difference in glycogen repletion in the first 24 hours following a glycogen depleting exercise bout between horses that were fed a high glycemic feed compared with a group where feed was withheld for 8 hours and another group of horses where only hay was fed.   A recent study also concluded that the route of administration of carbohydrate given post-exercise significantly affects the rate of glycogen replenishment.  Horses that were given an intravenous infusion of glucose following exercise exhibited significantly greater glycogen storage rates and glycogen concentration in the first 6 hours following exercise compared to horses fed a similar quantity of glucose orally.  In fact, the repletion of glycogen in response to oral glucose was minimal over this time period compared to the unsupplemented control horses (Geor et al 2007).
Whilst it is difficult to draw direct comparisons with feeding practices used in racing, it is worth appreciating the possible differences in the rate of glycogen repletion when very high glycemic feeds are fed compared to very low glycemic feeds.  The reality in many training yards I would suspect lies somewhere between these two extremes.

LOW GLYCEMIC 
DIETS CAN OFFER RACEHORSES MANY BENEFITS


There are many health-related benefits to feeding a ration that is lower in starch and sugar.  However, one should be mindful of muscle glycogen when considering horses that are consistently fed a low glycemic diet.  Specifically horses may be fed this type of ration because they are behaviourally more manageable, or because a specific condition such as the muscular disease recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis (tying up) (RER) is present.

A low starch diet is actively encouraged for horses that suffer from RER.  McKenzie (et al 2003) reported that plasma creatine kinase activity (CK), elevations of which can indicate muscle damage, was significantly reduced following exercise in RER horses fed a low starch high fat diet versus a high starch low fat diet.   In addition, lower resting heart rates have also been reported in horses fed a low starch high fat diet compared to the reverse.  A lower resting heart rate may be beneficial especially in RER horses where it reflects a calmer horse as stress has been implicated as a trigger factor for the condition. 

The current thinking on feed for horses with RER continues to be a low starch and sugar diet supplemented with oil.  It is also important that the diet is well balanced, especially with respect to calcium and phosphorus.  Adequate electrolyte provision is equally important, as is the intake of antioxidants such as vitamin E and other related trace minerals such as selenium.  Any potential individual limitation in mineral or electrolyte absorption and retention should be investigated further with veterinary assistance in order that individualised adjustments can be made to the diet.

A SUPPORTING ROLE FOR PROTEIN IN MUSCLE RECOVERY


Whilst we are all no doubt aware that the amino acids that make up protein are important for muscle development and repair, protein and its constituent amino acids have received very little attention in horses in terms of their potential to limit exercise induced muscle damage and aid muscle recovery.

In human athletes, co-consumption of a protein and carbohydrate drink during and after exercise appears to limit exercise induced muscle damage, ultimately allowing faster recovery (Baty et al 2007; Saunders et al 2004).  Recent introduction of ingredients containing partially hydrolysed protein may improve absorption of these amino acids and peptides possibly offering further benefit.

Finally, some nutraceutical ingredients including carnitine and creatine have been hailed as being beneficial to muscle function and recovery in human athletes.  Creatine, which has been studied in the horse, has failed to offer any great advantage, largely due to its poor absorption.  Likewise, carnitine has been reported to improve muscle blood flow during exercise in humans, helping to reduce muscle damage.  However, this aspect has not as yet been investigated in horses and previous dietary studies with carnitine were not unequivocal about the ability of oral carnitine to increase muscle carnitine content.

Nutritional Ergogenic aids for horses - boosting performance

By Dr Catherine Dunnett

No doubt we are all aware of the plethora of dietary supplements that are now available and that are promoted as offering clear and profound benefits to our horses’ health, general well being and performance.  In the latter category are the so-called ergogenic aids.  So what are they, and do they work?  These are the questions that this article aims to address.

DEFINITION
Ergogenic is defined as ‘work producing’.  An ergogenic aid is therefore some system, process, device or substance than can boost athletic performance in some fashion, such as speed, strength or stamina.  Broadly speaking there are five categories of ergogenic aids: biomechanical, physiological, pharmaceutical, psychological, and nutritional.
From an athletic perspective ergogenic aids may - enhance the biochemical and therefore physiological capacity of a particular body system leading to improved performance,
 alleviate the psychological constraints that can limit performance 
 accelerate recovery from training and competition.


This article will focus upon the use of nutritional supplements that are marketed or currently being researched for their efficacy in improving athletic performance in horses.

HOW DO THEY WORK?

In principle nutritional ergogenic aids can enhance exercise performance in horses in a variety ways, depending on the nature of the particular supplement.  For example an ergogenic aid might -

Enhance the lean mass of a horse by reducing body fat content whilst maintaining muscle mass, leading to an improved power to weight ratio
 Improve the ability to counter lactic acid production or accumulation – producing a slower fatigue process in muscle
 Increase muscle mass – resulting in increased power or strength
 Increase the transport of oxygen around the body
 Improve the efficiency of utilisation of body fuels such as fat, glucose and glycogen
 Increase the storage of fuels within the body
 Enhance the storage and utilisation of high-energy phosphates used in the early stages of fast exercise

WHAT’S ON THE MARKET?

A vast array of supplements are promoted as being effective ergogenic aids to the training and racing of horses.  The table below offers an overview of the global ergogenic aids ‘catalogue’ but is by no means intended to be an exhaustive list.

Ergogenic effects in horses and humans for dietary supplements marketed for use in performance horses

Proven* beneficial effect in horses Proven* beneficial effect in humans but not horses 

No unequivocal ergogenic effect in either species
  
ß-hydroxy-ß-methylbutyrate (HMB) Creatine Gamma-oryzanol
 Carnitine Dimethylglycine (DMG)
  Trimethylglycine (TMG)
  Ribose
  Chromium
  Stabilised oxygen
  Ubiquinone (Co-enzyme Q10)
  Branched chain amino acids (BCAA)
  Prohormones

* Based on data produced from scientific trials, rather than anecdotal evidence.

Creatine

Many of us will have heard of creatine in the context of nutrition and sport.  It has been the great success story, efficaciously and financially, within the sports nutrition sector from the 1990s to the present.  In 2004, for example, gross revenue from creatine supplement sales to sports people within North America alone was estimated at $400 million. 

This success largely stems from the fact that, unusually, it is a supplement that works!  Admittedly, its effectiveness varies across different sporting disciplines.  It has proven especially beneficial in sporting activities of comparatively short duration, such as the athletic disciplines of sprinting and jumping, but also in sports that require very high levels of power production as in rowing, swimming and track-based cycling.

Creatine accomplishes this performance enhancement, firstly by elevating the levels of high-energy phosphates, ATP (adenosine triphosphate) and PCr (phosphocreatine), stored in muscles.  Secondly, creatine can enhance the effect of training; i.e. it boosts the responsiveness of the muscles to stimuli generated by training.  This is often observed as increased muscle mass that arises from elevated production of the major muscle protein myosin and from enhanced levels of localised growth factors.

The benefits of creatine supplementation in training and competition have not passed the equine world by, and a number of products are marketed specifically for horses.  Unfortunately however, despite the positive claims made for these equine products they are not supported by scientific evidence.  Indeed the opposite is the case.  Sewell and co-workers in the UK and Essen-Gustavssen’s group in Sweden have conducted three rigorous placebo-controlled studies in horses. 

No positive effects of creatine supplementation on performance were found when parameters including time-to-fatigue, high-energy phosphate depletion and lactic acid production were measured.  The underlying cause for lack of efficacy in horses is due to poor absorption of creatine from the equine gut, leading to inadequate levels being attained in the muscles.

Even if a strategy could be devised to deliver creatine effectively to the muscle, some researchers are of the opinion that there would still be no effect.  They form this view on the basis that in comparison with humans the horses is an elite athlete wherein the level of creatine in equine muscle is at or very near to the physiological upper limit.
Carnitine

Carnitine is another well-known dietary supplement widely marketed as an ergogenic aid in human sports nutrition and within the equine industry.  The role of carnitine in exercise in humans and horses has been researched for almost 20 years.  The biological actions of carnitine that make it central to exercise include:

Directly: transport of fats into muscle mitochondria where they can be used aerobically (oxidised) to generate ATP

Indirectly: increase aerobic utilisation of glucose to produce ATP

Indirectly: reduce lactic acid production (acidosis)

Some research does indicate a positive effect of carnitine supplementation on exercise performance in human athletes, however there are other studies that seem to indicate the opposite. 

Conflicting research results have also been found for horses.  Studies carried out by Foster and Harris in Newmarket during the 1990s showed that dietary supplementation could increase carnitine levels circulating in the blood, but did not appear to affect the levels in the muscles.

In 2002 Rivero and his fellow researchers at the University of Cordoba conducted a placebo-controlled study into the effect of carnitine supplementation in 2-year-old horses when used in conjunction with an intensive 5 week long training programme.  Improved muscle characteristics were seen in the carnitine-supplemented group of horses, including a 35% increase in the proportion of fast-contracting (type IIA) muscle fibres, a 40% increase in the number of capillaries supplying blood to the muscle and an 11% increase in the level of glycogen stored in the muscle.  After a let down period of 10 weeks most of these improvements were reversed.  It was concluded that carnitine supplementation enhanced the training effect on muscles and that this could improve performance.

Despite the large number of studies conducted over the years the balance of evidence does not yet allow a consensus to be reached on whether carnitine improves performance in horses (and humans) or not.  Of course this does not rule out a beneficial effect, and Rivero’s study would seem to be encouraging.

Gamma-Oryzanol

Gamma-oryzanol is not as the name implies a single substance, but is a mixture of chemicals, mainly ferulic acid esters, derived from rice bran.  It has been popularised as a potent anabolic agent, i.e. a substance that promotes muscle growth leading to increased strength and speed.  Gamma-oryzanol has been employed in equine and human athletes in the belief that it elicits increased testosterone production and stimulation of growth hormone.  To date there is no published research describing the effects of gamma-oryzanol on exercise performance in horses, so in an effort to judge its potential efficacy we have to draw upon comparative studies in humans and other animals.

Efficacy for gamma-oryzanol is debatable, as it is poorly absorbed from the digestive tract.  What is more when given to rats, contrary to popular belief, it is reported to actually suppress endogenous growth hormone and testosterone production.  Research carried out in humans fed 0.5g per day of gamma-oryzanol showed no improvement in performance, nor indeed any change in the levels of testosterone, growth hormone, or other anabolic hormones even after 9 weeks of supplementation.  Thus in summary, no scientific evidence exists to support the anabolic effects ascribed to gamma-oryzanol.

Dimethylglycine (DMG) and trimethylglycine (TMG)

Both DMG and its precursor TMG cannot be regarded as new supplements having been researched briefly in the late 1980s with a single research report being published.
Rose and colleagues at the University of Sydney’s veterinary department looked into the potential benefit of DMG on heart and lung function, and lactic acid production in Thoroughbreds during exercise.  In this placebo-controlled trial DMG was fed twice daily to a group of thoroughbred horses that underwent a standardised exercise test at varying intensities before and after supplementation with DMG or the placebo.  On completion of the trial it was concluded that DMG produced no measurable improvement in any of the parameters, and that it exerts no beneficial effects on heart and lung function or lactic acid production during exercise.  Warren and co-workers following experimental evaluation of TMG as an ergogenic aid came to a similarly negative conclusion.

ß-Hydroxy-ß-methylbutyrate (HMB)

HMB is one of the few ergogenic aids available for use in performance horses that is supported by at least some credible science.  Significantly, research developing and validating the use of HMG in horses (and farm animals) was instigated and carried forward over a number of years at Iowa State University, USA, and the concept and methodology are protected by US patents.  HMB is a metabolite of leucine, one of the so-called branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), that are themselves often touted as ergogenic aids, although there is no convincing evidence to support such a claim.

Research seems to indicate that HMB supplementation when employed in conjunction with an effective training regime can benefit equine performance in a number of ways:
 Enhance muscle development and increase lean muscle mass and strength by reducing the proportion of energy needed for exercise that is derived from protein and increasing the proportion derived from fat.
 Reduce muscle damage (catabolism) during and after exercise and accelerate muscle repair.  Some research suggests that HMB is a structural constituent of muscle cells that is destroyed under the physiological stress of exercise. 
 Increase aerobic capacity (oxygen utilisation) in performance horses by increasing both haemoglobin and the proportion of red blood cells in the blood (haematocrit).

When HMB use was evaluated in practice under real racing and training conditions it appeared to reduce muscle damage, and to improve oxygen use by the muscles and overall performance.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS

Ribose

Ribose is a potential new dietary ergogenic aid that began to be studied in 2002.  It is a sugar that is the central component of ATP.  As ATP stores are depleted during intense exercise in horses, it was thought that supplementing the horses’ diet with ribose might lessen the loss of ATP during exercise and enhance its regeneration during recovery.  Kavazis and his colleagues at the University of Florida conducted two placebo-controlled studies in Thoroughbreds.  In these studies ribose was fed twice daily as a top dressing for two weeks to a group of trained horses.  The data from these two studies was contradictory and thus no conclusions can be easily drawn.  However, two studies in humans have shown no positive effect of ribose supplementation on exercise performance.  The balance of available evidence therefore suggests that ribose provides no ergogenic benefit in performance horses.

Bioavailable stabilised oxygen

An unusual ergogenic product has recently appeared that purports to be a bioavailable supplementary source of oxygen.  In simple terms, it is water that is apparently treated by a sophisticated electrical process so that it becomes a super-saturated solution of oxygen.  It’s described as containing about 20,000 times more oxygen than that found in average tap water.  As yet, there appears to be no convincing scientific evidence for this type of product, and what is more the explanation of its action does not seem to be physiologically credible.

It is suggested that this bioavailable oxygen is absorbed from the stomach and intestine into the blood stream, however these tissues have not evolved for this purpose unlike the lungs.  Even if we assume that all the oxygen from e.g.  (100 mL) was taken up into the blood, the added benefit would be very small; 100 mL is roughly equivalent to 20 litres of oxygen.  In comparison, an average horse exercising at racing speeds breathes in more than 2000 litres of air (420 litres of oxygen) every minute and the muscles use 75 litres of oxygen over the same period.  We should also remember that for a normal healthy horse the blood is 98% saturated with oxygen.


WHERE NEXT?

The future direction for nutritional ergogenic aids is extremely difficult to predict as any new developments are likely to mirror advances in our detailed understanding of the basic biochemical and physiological processes that underpin exercise performance.  In the past, much of the impetus for equine research in this area developed from human sports nutrition and this is likely to continue in the future.  A closing comment to put all of this information into context would be that whilst one should always seek a feasible mechanism of action and proof of efficacy for new products, small numbers of horses used in trials and difficulties in measuring ‘performance’ means that science will not always come up with the absolute answer.