ORIGINAL_ARTICLE Variability of stress indicators in jumping horses in parkour due to horse age and competitive season Aiming to determine the variability in stress indicators due to horse age and competitive season (May, July, September) in jumping horses in parkour, research was performed on 14 studs (7 younger, and 7 older) trained and bred in the same conditions. The stress indicators (heartbeats, cortisol, glucose, and lactate concentrations in saliva) were measured or sampled before, during and at the end of the training - parkour jumping. The significance of the differences in stress indicators between the horse age classes regarding the competitive season was tested by Tukey’s test. Based on determined results it could be concluded that all stress indicators, during the entire competitive season, were higher in younger (less experienced) than in older (more experienced) horses. Furthermore, all stress indicators, with the exception of heartbeats, were highest in the peak of competitive season (July), while the lowest values of all stress indicators were determined at the end of competitive season (September). Monitoring of stress indicators, especially heartbeats, could be used for routine evaluation of horse preparedness for a particular activity. https://macvetrev.mk/Files/Article/2020/10.2478/macvetrev-2020-0029/macvetrev-2020-0029.pdf 2020-10-15T09:00:00 169 173 10.2478/macvetrev-2020-0029 jumping horses parkour stress indicators Maja Gregić msakac@fazos.hr false 1 Department for Animal Production and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agrobiotechnology Osijek, University of Josip Juraj Strossmayer in Osijek, Vladimira Preloga 1, 31000 Osijek, Croatia LEAD_AUTHOR Tina Bobić false 2 Department for Animal Production and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agrobiotechnology Osijek, University of Josip Juraj Strossmayer in Osijek, Vladimira Preloga 1, 31000 Osijek, Croatia AUTHOR Mirjana Baban false 3 Department for Animal Production and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agrobiotechnology Osijek, University of Josip Juraj Strossmayer in Osijek, Vladimira Preloga 1, 31000 Osijek, Croatia AUTHOR Gjoko Bunevski false 4 Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Food, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia AUTHOR Vesna Gantner false 5 Department for Animal Production and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agrobiotechnology Osijek, University of Josip Juraj Strossmayer in Osijek, Vladimira Preloga 1, 31000 Osijek, Croatia AUTHOR Mills, D.S., Mc Donnell S.M. (2005). The domestic horse: the origins, development, and management of its behavior. Cambridge University Press. 1 Hick, C., Hick, A. (2000). Physiology Short Textbook. Urban & Fischer Verlag, München, 41 – 77, 153 – 160. [in German] 2 Becker-Birck, M., Schmidt, A., Lasarzik, J., Aurich, J., Möstl, E., Aurich, C. (2013). Cortisol release and heart rate variability in sport horses participating in equestrian competitions. Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research 8, 87-90. PMid: 23380228 3 10.1016/j.jveb.2012.05.002 Snow, D.H., Valberg, S.J. (1994). Muscle anatomy, physiology and adaptations to exercise and training. In: Hodgson D.R. and Rose R.J. 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