Tubs of Air
By the time a horse crosses the finish line in a 5-furlong race, has completed a Grand Prix show jumping round, or gone 1/6th of the way around a 3-star cross-country course, it will have moved around 1,800 liters (475 gallons) or six bathtubs of air in and out of its lungs. This equates to moving two buckets of air in and out of the lungs every second!
The air inhaled into the horse’s respiratory system during a 5-furlong race consists of about 380 liters (100 gallons) of oxygen (the rest is made up of nitrogen) and only a quarter of that air (95 liters) will be absorbed into the blood. The oxygen absorbed by the lungs is used to perform the process of aerobic metabolism, which gets the energy from stored glucose (carbohydrates) into the muscle cells. Of the total amount of energy the horse needs to get from the starting gate to the finish line in a 5-furlong race, around 70% of this will come from aerobic metabolism (around 70% for show jumping and 90% for cross-country).
The remaining energy comes from anaerobic metabolism, which also breaks down glucose to generate energy, but can be done without oxygen. Anaerobic metabolism is a fast process but is inefficient because it can only be used for a short time due to the buildup of lactic acid. Even in a race or jumping round lasting less than a minute, the majority of the energy generated must come from using oxygen to “burn” carbohydrates.
The harder a horse works, the more oxygen it needs and the more air it must move in and out of the lungs. If a horse doubles its speed, it will need to double the amount of air moved in and out of the lungs.
FLAIR® Strips reduce resistance to breathing to make it easier for horses to bring air into the lungs by supporting the soft tissues overlying the nasal passages, to support optimal respiratory system function.