Physiological changes of the horse musculoskeletal system during physiological effort measured by infrared thermography

Abstract

Despite progress in equine sports science which has brought improved training programmes, little is known about the basic physiology of the musculature in the exercising horse. Using electromyography, Harrison et al. [1] demonstrated a range of activation times for the different limb muscles, which was found to be dependent on the gait of the horse. However, electromyography is unsuitable for large studies due to its complex nature.