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Pre-race warm-up practices in Greyhound racing: a pilot study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 2007

A J Windred ,
P G Osmotherly  and
C M McGowan
A J Windred
Affiliation:
Noahs Ark Animal Physiotherapy, Brisbane, Queensland 4030, Australia
P G Osmotherly
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health, School of Health Sciences, The University of Newcastle, New South Wales 2308, Australia
C M McGowan*
Affiliation:
Department of Equine and Small Animal Medicine, The University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 57, Helsinki 00014, Finland
*
*Corresponding author: [email protected]
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Abstract

Despite the high athletic demands of Greyhound racing and recommendations for the inclusion of pre-race warm-up by some veterinarians, the extent of warm-up practices by Greyhound owners and trainers remains unexplored. We postulated that little pre-race warm-up occurred and any warm-up activities were performed at random. A cross-sectional study design was used to examine pre-race warm-up practices in a sample of 80 Greyhounds. Warm-up components were recorded and scores were assigned in order to quantify the total amount of warm-up undertaken. Associations between total warm-up and signalment and race characteristics were analysed statistically. Correlations between total warm-up performed and all variables including race distance, race order, grade of Greyhound and trainer were poor (all r < 0.2). No statistically significant association between total warm-up and any variable examined could be demonstrated at the P = 0.05 level, although a weak trend towards graded Greyhounds performing more warm-up was noted (P = 0.09). We conclude that little pre-race warm-up is performed in Greyhounds and that when practised, the amount and methods of warm-up are inconsistently applied.

Keywords

warm-upstretchingexerciseGreyhoundracing
Type
Short Communication
Information
Equine and Comparative Exercise Physiology , Volume 4 , Issue 3-4 , November 2007 , pp. 119 - 122
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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