Considering the complexity of the physical effort inherent in polo horses in competitions and the lack of reports about the cardiovascular effects resulting from a Chukker, yet the dynamics of the associated weight, the aim of this study was to evaluate by echocardiography with 27 horses polo athletes who underwent training starting at rest and after exercise. The results showed that this method has changed several echocardiographic indexes within five to ten minutes before the end of a Chukker. It was they, as structural index, thickness reduction interventricular septum and left ventricular free wall and increased left ventricular diameter, and functional as an increase in cardiac output and heart rate, while stroke volume, fractional shortening and ejection fraction reduced. The weight loss was not significant, so was not associated with echocardiographic changes. These results suggest that cardiac demand was high, indicating the importance of the physical and cardiovascular training specific to this modality.
Cardiac function; echocadiography; polo horse
