Table 3.

Physiological responses in stallions and mares before warm-up and after the breed evaluation field test (BEFT) ¹ and effects of sex, age group (age; 4, 5, 6 and ⩾7 years), whether flying pace (Pace) was shown or not, distance (Dist.), velocity (Vel.) and BWR ²

	Stallions				Mares					P-values
	n	Mean	Min	Max	n	Mean	Min	Max	RMSE	Sex	Age	Pace	Dist.	Vel.	BWR
RR before (breaths/min)	84	29	16	72	158	30	12	76	11	0.983	0.904	0.548	0.236	0.311	0.972
RR after (breaths/min)	84	103	40	160	159	103	12	168	28	0.915	0.015	0.363	0.415	0.001	0.398
RT before (°C)	84	37.8	36.7	38.5	158	37.8	36.9	38.6	0.3	0.770	0.419	0.979	0.527	0.546	0.414
RT after (°C)	84	39.4	38.0	40.9	158	39.6	38.4	41.1	0.5	0.041	0.796	0.566	0.015	0.105	0.410
RT change (°C)	84	1.7	0.4	3.4	158	1.8	0.5	3.7	0.5	0.067	0.510	0.512	0.029	0.060	0.144
Haematocrit before (%)	84	39	27	50	159	34	25	42	3	<0.001	0.189	0.327	0.830	0.452	0.086
Haematocrit after (%)	84	49	41	55	159	43	36	50	2	<0.001	<0.001	0.275	0.934	0.933	0.085
Hb concentrationbefore (g/l)	83	140	110	197	149	122	95	151	13	<0.001	0.243	0.839	0.834	0.181	0.030
Hb concentration after (g/l)	84	176	150	202	159	157	132	194	10	<0.001	0.002	0.941	0.339	0.215	0.002
TPP concentration before (g/l)	84	61	54	70	157	59	49	74	4	<0.001	0.314	0.798	0.692	0.215	0.966
TPP concentration after (g/l)	79	65	58	76	149	63	52	80	4	<0.001	0.088	0.219	0.975	0.243	0.877
CK concentration before (U/l)	84	239	117	1633	159	237	105	1913	155	0.946	0.143	0.990	0.167	0.526	0.437
CK concentration after (U/l)	84	298	135	2008	159	295	103	2162	221	0.941	0.113	0.533	0.005	0.095	0.801
AST concentration before (U/l)	84	349	195	625	159	354	158	894	96	0.686	0.890	0.614	0.188	0.001	0.942
AST concentration after (U/l)	84	383	229	643	159	378	124	928	102	0.739	0.838	0.860	0.154	0.005	0.929
Lac concentration after (mmol/l)	84	13.1	2.1	31.3	159	18.6	5.9	34.4	5.0	<0.001	0.200	<0.001	0.385	<0.001	0.005
HRav during BEFT (b.p.m.) 3	41	178	138	204	56	189	166	210	11	<0.001	0.241	0.163	0.612	0.001	0.277
HRpeak in BEFT (b.p.m.) 4	41	225	195	238	56	224	203	237	8	0.773	0.073	0.108	0.915	0.185	0.568
HRmin in BEFT (b.p.m.) 5	41	115	95	142	56	125	81	154	13	0.001	0.288	0.791	0.463	0.001	0.451
HR at end of BEFT (b.p.m.)	41	194	123	229	56	203	136	229	21	0.067	0.152	0.608	0.248	0.022	0.178
HR 5 min recovery (b.p.m.) 6	62	108	69	137	114	115	87	136	9	0.001	0.687	0.003	0.079	0.001	0.312
HR 5th min of recovery (b.p.m.) 7	73	90	49	124	142	96	74	119	9	<0.001	0.745	0.002	0.060	0.001	0.162

RR=respiratory rate; RT=rectal temperature; Hb=Haemoglobin; TPP=total plasma protein; CK=plasma creatine kinase; AST=plasma aspartate amino transferase; Lac=plasma lactate.

¹ Values presented as least square means (mean) and root mean standard error (RMSE) and minimum (min) and maximum (max) values.

² The ratio of rider BW (riding tack not included) to horse BW.

³ Average HR during BEFT.

⁴ Peak HR in BEFT.

⁵ Minimum HR in BEFT.

⁶ Average HR during the first 5 min of recovery after the BEFT.

⁷ Average HR during the 5th minute of recovery after the BEFT.