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. 2019 Dec 7;9(12):1095.
doi: 10.3390/ani9121095.

The Pattern of Superficial Body Temperatures in Leisure Horses Lunged with Commonly Used Lunging Aids

Malgorzata Maśko  1 , Lukasz Zdrojkowski  2 , Malgorzata Domino  2 , Tomasz Jasinski  2 , Zdzislaw Gajewski  2
Affiliations

The Pattern of Superficial Body Temperatures in Leisure Horses Lunged with Commonly Used Lunging Aids

Malgorzata Maśko et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: The natural head and neck position (HNP) of horses differs from the position in horse riding when bit is used. The special lunging aids (LAs) are applied in order to modify HNP. Different types of LAs have the potential to affect the work of horse muscles and the superficial thermographic patterns (STPs). The effects of thre LAs on STPs of neck, chest, back, and hindquarters were investigated.

Methods: Sixteen leisure horses were lunged with freely moving head (FMH), rubber band (RB), chambon (CH), and triangle side reins (TRs). The thermographic images (n = 896) were analyzed before/after lunging for mean temperatures (Tmean) and minimum-maximum difference (Tdiff).

Results: Superficial Tmean increased (p < 0.001) in cranial part of neck, back, thoracic area, and limbs after lunging regardless of LAs application or its type. In comparison to other LAs: With RB, Tmean was higher in regions of interest (ROIs) 2,7 and lower in ROIs 3-4 (p < 0.05); with CH, Tmean was higher in ROIs 2-4 and 7 (p < 0.01); and with TRs, Tmean was higher in ROIs 2-4,7,9-11 (p < 0.01). In ROIs 2-4 and 7, Tdiff was lower with LAs than with FMH (p < 0.01) and in ROIs 9-10 with TRs.

Conclusions: The choice of LAs should be dictated by the expected effect; however, all LAs increase the quality of the leisure horse lunging. LA use is more desirable than lunging with FMH.

Keywords: chambon; head and neck position; leisure horses; lunging; rubber band; thermography; triangle side reins.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Thermographic image of horse lunged with: (A) freely moving head, (B) chambon, (C) rubber band, (D) triangle side reins. The open head and neck position marked with α: 110°–115°; the close head and neck position marked with ß: 85°–90°. The dashed lines marked the location of subsequent lunging aids.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The regions of interest (ROIs) chosen for statistical analysis of thermographic data: (A) ROIs 1–3, (B) ROI 4, (C) ROIs 5–6, (D) ROIs 7–8, (E) ROIs 9–10, (F) ROI 11.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The superficial thermographic patterns of regions of interest (ROIs) of the neck. Horses lunged with: freely moving head, rubber band, chambon, and triangle side reins. (A,E) ROI 1, (B,F) ROI 2, (C,G) ROI 3, (D,H) ROI 4, (A–D) Tmean, (E–H) Tdiff. Lower case letters indicate differences between measurements before and after effort, as well as differences among freely moving head and type of lunging aid used. The differences were significant for p < 0.05. All values were reported as mean + SD.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The superficial thermographic patterns of regions of interest (ROIs) of the chest. Horses lunged with: freely moving head, rubber band, chambon, and triangle side reins, before and after effort. (A,C) ROI 5, (B,D) ROI 6, (A,B) Tmean, (C,D) Tdiff. Lower case letters indicate differences between measurements before and after an effort, as well as differences among freely moving head and type of lunging aid used. The differences were significant for p < 0.05. All values were reported as mean + SD.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The superficial thermographic patterns of regions of interest (ROIs) of the back. Horses lunged with: freely moving head, rubber band, chambon, and triangle side reins, before and after effort. (A,C) ROI 7, (B,D) ROI 8, (A,B) Tmean, (C,D) Tdiff. Lower case letters indicate differences between measurements before and after an effort, as well as differences among freely moving head and type of lunging aid used. The differences were significant for p < 0.05. All values were reported as mean + SD.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The superficial thermographic patterns of regions of interest (ROIs) of the hindquarters. Horses lunged with: freely moving head, rubber band, chambon, and triangle side reins, before and after effort. (A,D) ROI 9, (B,E) ROI 10, (C,F) ROI 11, (A,B) Tmean, (C,D) Tdiff. Lower case letters indicate differences between measurements before and after an effort, as well as differences among freely moving head and type of lunging aid used. The differences were significant for p < 0.05. All values were reported as mean + SD.
Figure 7
Figure 7
The thermographic images after training session with freely moving head (A–F), rubber band (G–L), chambon (M–R), and triangle side reins (S–X) of the same horse with the marked regions of interest (ROIs) chosen for statistical analysis: (A,G,M,S) ROIs 1–3; (B,H,N,T) ROI 4; (C,I,O,U) ROIs 5–6; (D,J,P,V) ROIs 7–8; (E,K,Q,W) ROIs 9–10; (F,L,R,X) ROI 11.
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