Rankins Ellen M, Faremi Boluwatife E, Hartmann Kyle, Quinn Andrea, Posada-Quintero Hugo F, McKeever Kenneth H, Malinowski Karyn
Department of Animal Sciences, Equine Science Center, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.
Transl Anim Sci. 2025 Feb 12;9:txaf019. doi: 10.1093/tas/txaf019. eCollection 2025.
Heart rate variability (HRV) can be measured as an indicator of autonomic nervous system (ANS) balance and thus, stress and affective arousal. Mixed results have been reported in the limited literature addressing the effects of equine-assisted services (EAS) on HRV in the human and horse participants. The aims of the present study were to determine the effects of ground-based adaptive horsemanship (AH) lessons on veterans' and horses' HRV during weekly lessons as well as veterans' resting HRV outside of lessons. Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were randomly assigned to 8 wk of AH or control (CON, no changes in treatments or activities) conditions. Horses were assigned to AH or control (CON, stall in arena) conditions based on previous experience (EAS or recreational riding). Electrocardiogram traces from the veteran and AH and CON horses were recorded during the 30-min lessons. Traces were recorded during resting conditions before (PRE) and after (POST) the 8-wk period from AH and CON veterans and healthy, non-veterans. Heart rate (HR), root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) and low frequency to high frequency ratios (LF/HF) were calculated after identification of peaks with the Pan-Tompkins algorithm and manual correction during 5-min epochs. Data were analyzed with repeated measures, mixed model ANOVAs (SAS v9.4). HR was lowest ( ≤ 0.0323) in the horses and veterans during the first 10 min of the lessons. Veterans' RMSSD was higher (≤ 0.0496) in weeks 4 and 6 than week 2. LF/HF was greater in veterans with PTSD than healthy, non-veterans across PRE and POST time points. Increased HR later in the lessons is likely a result of increased movement in the horses and veterans. An interval of decreased stress and increased resiliency might be present in veterans participating in multi-day AH sessions. Increased sympathetic arousal measured via LF/HF was not mitigated by 8 wk of AH. Horses appeared unstressed by the interactions as no changes in HRV were observed.
心率变异性（HRV）可作为自主神经系统（ANS）平衡的指标进行测量，进而反映压力和情感唤醒程度。在有限的关于马术辅助服务（EAS）对人类和马匹参与者HRV影响的文献中，研究结果不一。本研究的目的是确定每周地面适应性马术（AH）课程对退伍军人和马匹HRV的影响，以及课程之外退伍军人的静息HRV。患有创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）的退伍军人被随机分配到为期8周的AH组或对照组（CON，治疗或活动无变化）。马匹根据先前经验（EAS或休闲骑行）被分配到AH组或对照组（CON，在场地内的马厩）。在30分钟的课程中记录退伍军人以及AH组和CON组马匹的心电图。在8周AH期之前（PRE）和之后（POST）的静息状态下，记录AH组和CON组退伍军人以及健康非退伍军人的心电图。使用Pan-Tompkins算法识别峰值并在5分钟时段内进行手动校正后，计算心率（HR）、连续差值的均方根（RMSSD）和低频与高频比值（LF/HF）。采用重复测量、混合模型方差分析（SAS v9.4）对数据进行分析。在课程的前10分钟，马匹和退伍军人的HR最低（≤0.0323）。退伍军人的RMSSD在第4周和第6周高于第2周（≤0.0496）。在PRE和POST时间点，患有PTSD的退伍军人的LF/HF高于健康非退伍军人。课程后期HR升高可能是马匹和退伍军人活动增加的结果。参与多日AH课程的退伍军人可能存在压力降低和恢复力增强的时间段。通过LF/HF测量的交感神经唤醒增加并未因8周的AH而减轻。马匹似乎未因互动而产生压力，因为未观察到HRV的变化。
