Search

During a stressful situation, the infrared thermography can detect the alterations of the blood flow caused by the release of catecholamines and cortisol. The goal of this study was to evaluate the eye temperature change associated with physiological stress in response to a session of race training in thoroughbred horses. Thermal images of the left eye of 13 thoroughbred horses were captured before and after the last training day before their first official race and maximum eye temperature was analyzed. The respiratory rate before and after exercise was also measured and the ambient temperature and the relative humidity of the air at the stable and at the track were recorded. The experiment was performed under a complete randomized design with 13 replications. The analysis of changes in maximal eye temperature was done with an ANOVA procedure and a correlation between the maximal eye temperature, respiratory rate and Comfort Index was investigated. There was a significant increase (P<0.01) in the eye temperature measurements taken after the training session. There was a positive linear correlation between the respiratory rate and the maximal eye temperatures, but correlations between the Comfort Index and maximum eye temperature or between the respiratory rate and the Comfort Index were not found. The infrared thermography is able to effectively measure the eye temperature change, which may be related to stress levels in thoroughbred horses during race training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]