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By Les Sellnow
T
here are few similarities between
horses and automobiles, but in a
manner of speaking, the horse’s cir- Of
& Breath
culatory and respiratory systems consti-
tute its engine. The food a horse consumes
is its fuel. The fuel is converted into nu-
tritional energy that powers the muscles.
The respiratory system provides oxygen
to facilitate metabolism, and the cardio-
vascular or circulatory system delivers the
oxygen and nutrients to tissues as well as
carrying off waste products that are pro-
duced when the “engine” is running. The circulatory and respiratory
We’ll take a close a look at these two
systems and the manner in which they systems work together to fuel the
function. horse’s body
Respiratory System
The purpose of the respiratory system
can be stated simply and succinctly: It
functions to exchange oxygen and carbon
dioxide. Oxygen is inspired for use by the
tissues, and carbon dioxide (CO2) is ex-
haled as a waste product.
The amount of oxygen required and the
volume of CO2 produced varies with the
level of exercise. During intense exercise,
the tissues require a great deal more oxy-
gen than when the horse is at rest, and,
strenuous exercise, of course, means more
CO2 must be removed. To accomplish all
that is required during exercise involves
an increased respiration rate.
Before we get involved with that, let’s
take a look at how air is inspired and pro-
cessed by the equine respiratory system.
It all starts with the nostrils. There has
long been casual debate on whether the
size of a horse’s nostrils influences the
amount of air inspired. Some would argue
that nostrils that can flare widely are ca-
pable of inspiring a greater quantity of air,
while others will say that there is no sci-
entific evidence to prove that point. What-
Dr. Robin Peterson Illustration
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trachea
main alveolar
bronchus sacs
There are many other problems that
can affect the intake and exchange of air
apex caudal
in the horse’s respiratory system. The bot- lobe
tom line is that healthy lungs and airways apical
are important, especially to the exercising lobe heart Dr. Robin Peterson Illustration
horse.
Cardiovascular System
We turn now to the cardiovascular or respiratory system, the red blood cells tory system. The flow of blood is through
circulatory system of the horse. This con- have an iron-containing protein known a system of blood vessels. When blood is
sists of blood, blood vessels through which as hemoglobin, which binds oxygen for pumped from the heart, it travels through
the blood flows, and the heart that provides transportation to the tissues. This is the a network of arteries, arterioles, capillaries,
power for the flow of blood. primary function of the red blood cells. and venules. After completing that part of
The normal adult horse weighing 1,000 The main role for the white blood cells is to the route in the equine body, it is returned
pounds will have about 13.2 gallons of work with the rest of the immune system to the heart through large veins.
blood in its body. The blood is composed to defend against bacterial invasions. Plate- The heart itself is divided into two halves.
of red blood cells (erythrocytes), white lets function in the blood clotting process. Each of the halves of this large, muscular
blood cells (leukocytes), platelets, and liq- The key element in the entire vascular organ (3.3-8.8 pounds) has two chambers—
uid (plasma). system, of course, is the heart, whose job the atrium and ventricle. It works like this:
As indicated in the discussion on the it is to pump blood through the circula- The right atrium and ventricle pump blood
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Take-Home Message
While all the horse’s body systems work
together to keep the animal alive and ac-
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tems have a special relationship. The flow
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