INTERNATIONAL AND HUNGARIAN REVIEW ON THE METABOLIC INVESTIGATION IN HORSES

The author has reviewed the aspects that make necessary the metabolic investigations both in sport horses and in breeding stocks. Because su ch investigations were not carried out before the mid-eighties in Hung ary, more important results of international literature in the past th ree decades have been reviewed. A high priority has been given to the research carried out on the energy sources essential for the performan ce of horses, to the results obtained in the field of feeding. Thereaf ter, results of the Hungarian research have been briefly reviewed. Gra des have been detailed which helped that these investigations have bec ome as daily routine activities. The author has investigated the influ ence of feeding and light work on the metabolic blood parameters. Dete rmination were done in blood samples taken every second hours. It was found that all the parameters - except for the acetoacetic acid - incr eased after feeding and thereafter they decreased stepwise until the n ext feeding. Due to work, carbamide content, amount of calcium and lev el of acetoacetic acid and PFA increased while blood level of albumin, glucose and total protein decreased. Changes of the same parameters w ere also investigated after very strong loading (military racing): blo od sugar level increased by 95%, the amount of acetoacetic acid by 140 %, FFA by 320% while the level of triglyceride by 10%. In the meantime the number of heartbeats increased two and a half rimes and the respi ratory rate near to seven times. Investigations carried out in breedin g stocks have confirmed that in case of insufficient feeding of mares i.e. different mineral substance and micro element deficiencies not on ly disturb the reproductive capacity of mares but also influence the v alue in use of offsprings. In;three studs, 60 mares and 57 mares with foal at foot - together with the foals - were investigated. Besides th e disturbance of calcium and phosphorous, selenium and copper deficien cies were also found. A frequent finding was also the lack of energy i n suckling mares. Experiences of the investigation carried out in spor t horse stocks have indicated that these investigations made possible the selection of individuals with an adequate biochemical construction for a certain type of loading. Moreover, individual feeding of valuab le and high performing horses can only ensure such a biochemical state which makes possible the better use of the given capacity.