This is exemplified by the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, which must get up to “speed,” often from a standing start, to ensure that sufficient oxygen is delivered to the working muscles to allow them to continue to function optimally.
The harder a horse works, the more oxygen it needs and the more air it must move into and out of the lungs. Understanding how the horse’s respiratory system works can help horse owners recognize problems and/or manage horses to prevent them.
By the time a horse crosses the finish line in a five-furlong race, has completed a Grand Prix show jumping round, or gone one-sixth of the way round a 3-star cross-country course, he will have moved somewhere around 1,800 liters of air in and out of the lungs.
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