Autonomic regulation in athletic horses repetitively participating in two novice jumping classes on consecutive days.

Introduction: Animal welfare is of great concern in equestrian sports and has been evaluated in athletic horses competing at different levels. However, the impact of consecutive days of jumping competition and the extent of resultant stress responses remains unclear. To address this point, the present study compared the changes in stress response via heart rate variability (HRV) in horses participating in two national jumping events on consecutive days.