EQUINE EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY: Proceedings of the First International Conference Edited by David H. Snow, Sune G.B. Persson and Reuben J. Rose; Published in association with Granta Editions, by D.H. Snow, Equine Resea rch S ta t ion , Ba la ton Lodge , Snailwell Road, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 7DW; (1983); 543 pages; £ 38.

Despite the fact that the buying, t raining and competing of horses worldwide has become a billion dollar industry, until recently little research activity has concentrated on the physiological and biochemical changes occurring in the horse to meet the demands of different competitive events. Over the past few years, however, a number of veterinary schools have developed l a b o r a t o r i e s d e v o t e d to o b t a i n i n g a g r e a t e r understanding of the horse at work, with a view to improving both the performance and welfare of the horse.

This book covers the Proceedings of the First I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o n f e r e n c e on E q u i n e E x e r c i s e Physiology, a 3-day meeting held at Oxford in 1982. The various areas of exercise physiology each occupy a section introduced by a review paper outlining the subject and recent advances, followed by papers describing original work. The book contains 10 review papers and 49 research papers.

In this rapidly advancing discipline it is impossible to produce a book that is state-of-the-art as it comes off the press. This book, however, brings together all the information available in 1982 on the understanding of equine exercise physiology. It should be of value, not only to researchers, but to veterinarians dealing with competitive horses.

Dr. Snow writes in the forword, "Research into exercise physiology has been largely responsible for the dramatic improvements in human athletic performance over the last 25 years. In contrast, equine exercise physiology is still in its infancy. Although some excellent studies were carried out by the English and German groups at the end of the last century, there was then a large interval before studies were recommenced in Sweden in the mid-nineteen sixties. The development of specialized high speed treadmills has enabled Swedish workers to perform a variety of sophisticated techniques to assess physiological responses to exercise and training

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in Standardbred horses. "More recently, there has been an upsurge in research

throughout the world into all aspects of equine exercise physiology and biochemistry. Horses are required to compete in a variety of events ranging from short sprinting type exercise to long distance endurance competitions.

"It has been recognized by veterinarians and horse trainers that basic understanding of the physiological processes associated with differing forms of exercise and scientific evaluation of traditional training programs are n e c e s s a r y it i m p r o v e m e n t in p e r f o r m a n c e and minimization of injuries are to ~e achieved.

"With this background , the First In te rna t iona l Confe rence on Equine Exerc ise P h y s i o l o g y was conce ived and b r o u g h t to f ru i t i on in O x f o r d in September 1982. The response to a call for papers was overwhelming- so much so that extensive poster sessions were included to permit all the material to be presented over a three day period. In addition to the scientific papers, review papers on the important aspects within the area of exercise physiology were presented. This enabled experts in various fields to present an overview and provide ideas for future direction. The meeting was opened by Sir William Henderson, chairman of the Veterinary Advisory Committee of the Horserace Betting Levy Board, who informed participants on the financing of equine r e sea rch in the Uni ted K i n g d o m . An introductory paper was presented by Professor Bengt Saltin, of the August Krogh Institute, University of Copenhagen.

"The large attendance of 150 delegates from 21 countries confirmed the widespread interest in equine exercise physiology and enabled research workers and practicing veterinarians to exchange views. We hope that this conference will stimulate further research work, so that at the next meeting in California, scheduled for August 1986, further mysteries of the equine athlete may be revealed.

"These Proceedings contain most of the papers presented at the conference, although unfortunately some could not be included as the authors were unable to meet the deadlines set for publication, and others had to be excluded because they did not meet the scientific criteria of the referees."

EQUINE VETERINARY SCIENCE