Responses of the healthy equine carpal joint to treadmill exercise

Abstract

We investigated the effects of treadmill exercise on synovial fluid (SF) biomarkers and range of motion (ROM) of the carpal joints in healthy Shetland ponies. Seven ponies (age 3-6y; acclimatised to treadmill), were trained five days/week for five weeks, complemented with 30 min (30’) daily walking exercise. Training consisted of 4’ trot (16 km/h), 2’ canter (21 km/h), 2’ trot (preceded and completed by 5’ walking at 4.4 km/h). SF was collected from left (LF) and right (RF) middle carpal joints three days before the first and 24 h after the last training session (Day33), and additionally from the left side at Day11, -12, -32 and -52. Cartilage metabolism markers CPII, C2C and GAG, and inflammatory markers PGE2.D2, CCL2, and MMP were measured. Carpal ROM was measured using 3D optical motion capture (Proreflex 240, Qualisys, framerate 200 Hz), on the treadmill at Day2 and Day25. Linear mixed models were used for statistical analysis, with significance set at P