Resposta térmica e comportamental de equinos submetidos a exercícios funcionais e acupuntura

Abstract

The adoption of a program of functional exercises in athlete equines or equines used for work is a practice that has become popular in equideoculture because it aims, mainly, at strengthening the animals’ muscles. The objective was to evaluate the degree of muscle activation and relaxation in patrolling horses submitted to dynamic mobilization exercises associated or not with acupuncture. Twelve castrated, mixed breed horses were used, with an average age of 10 ± 2.0 years and an average weight of 450.0 ± 30 kg. Three treatments were used consisting of: single session of dynamic mobilization exercises (longitudinal cervical flexion of the head between the hooves, between the carpus and up to the chest); single acupuncture session lasting 20 minutes; single session of dynamic mobilization exercises associated with acupuncture. The thermographic footages were recorded over 1 minute before the treatments were applied and over 5 consecutive minutes immediately after. The analyzed regions were: cervical, thoracic, dorsal, abdominal and pelvic. Behavioral assessment was video recorded 5 minutes before and 10 minutes after the treatments, in an uninterrupted manner. The frequencies of the following behaviors were evaluated: supported on three limbs (C1), dozing (C2), penis exposure (C3), chewing (C4), low neck (C5), ears drooping laterally (C6), snorting (C7) and shake the body (C8). The results showed an increase (P <0.0001) in the animals' body temperature at the end of the single session of functional exercises for all regions studied, with the cervical and thoracic areas being those with the highest final temperature value (34.35 ± 0 , 24 ° C and 34.13 ± 0.22 ° C, respectively). There was no variation in temperature in the other treatments (P> 0.05). For all treatments, horses showed a higher frequency (P <0.05) in the expression of behaviors related to relaxation. For animals submitted to functional exercises, the behaviors that showed an increase in frequency were C5, C3 and C4, those submitted to acupuncture performed C4 and C2 behaviors more frequently, whereas horses submitted to the association of exercise with acupuncture demonstrated a higher occurrence of C4, C2 and C8 behaviors. Therefore, the performance of a single session of dynamic mobilization exercises is sufficient to promote an intense muscular response throughout a horse's body. In fact, both functional exercises and acupuncture, individually or in association, were able to promote muscle and mental relaxation, positively interfering in the animals' well-being.