The horse's heart and blood vessel (cardiovascular) system is one of the key components required for optimal athletic performance. The modern-day horse has evolved over thousands of years with selective pressures aimed at improving athletic performance. This has resulted in an animal with a large heart which has high blood pumping capacity. In this article I will review some of the basic functions of the heart, the cardiovascular response to training and exercise, as well as review some causes of poor performance related to heart function.
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Increased environmental thermal load causes increases in body temperature, increased fluid and electrolyte loss and decreased exercise capacity. This has been clearly demonstrated in both laboratory (treadmill) and field conditions.
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Your horse's heart is a pump that supplies all his muscles and organs with oxygen and nutrients and carries away the waste products. It does this under all conditions: when he is galloping after hounds, or when he's asleep.

To do this efficiently, the heart is divided into two sides: the left side takes oxygenated blood from the lungs and supplies muscles and vital organs, like the brain and kidney. The de-oxygenated blood then returns to the right heart to be pumped to the lungs, where it is replenished with oxygen. Each side has a muscular pumping chamber, the ventricle, and a collecting chamber, the atrium. With each beat, a typical adult horse pumps approximately one litre of blood out of each side of his heart, this is the stroke volume. With a resting heart rate of 30 - 40 beats per minute, this means the total blood pumped in one minute, the horse's cardiac output, is 30 - 40 litres per minute. Contrast this to man with an average output of 5 litres per minute and we can begin to see why the horse is a much better athlete.
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The equine athlete undergoes significant musculo-skeletar changes during conditioning and competition. Unfortunately, lameness and losses are higher than desirable and the industry is challenged to use field and laboratory-based principles for improving the well-being of race and performance horses. Body condition can be adjusted to delay fatigue and influence thermal regulation. Body weight estimates can aid in feeding horses moreeffectively. Preride checks and adequate warm-up are vital to the initial conditioning and specificity of training phases horses must undergo to be competitive. Heart rate provides a good monitor of how horses respond to exercise and can be used to minimize injury through effectively regulated overloading techniques. Diet plays a major role in conditioning and energy can be provided in a fashion to increase time to fatigue and improve heat dissipation. Cardiovascular fitness remains with horses longer than skeletal strength during off-periods and both ground surfaces and exercise schedules impact the length of time needed to prepare for the rigors of competition.
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The rules of endurance riding place a huge emphasis on recovery heart rates of horses, with horses failing to meet the official cut off recovery heart rate limit being eliminated from the competition. As such, endurance horse owners and trainers are well educated in using recovery heart rate to monitor the fitness and well being of their horse. But what about exercise or training... 
Endurance Horses - What is Endurance Riding 
Endurance Horses Training Heart Rates
Endurance Riding - The Stress
Endurance Horses Heart Rates - Effect of Weight

One popular form of cross training that has long been used by many trainers is swimming. This is especially the case if the trainer has access to a well-designed swimming pool that can be utilized all year round. Swimming is seen as an excellent exercise for building horses cardio-vascular (heart-lung) fitness with the added advantage of minimizing the daily stress... 
Horse Training using Swimming and Heart Rates

It would seem that the V200 Test can be conducted easily, that it is useful in evaluating training effect and it can be used easily in the field provided the following conditions occurs:

You have access to an accurate and reliable horse heart rate monitor (e.g., POLAR Horse Trainer) and stopwatch.

You have a relatively flat 600-800 m track with a grass, woodchip or sand surface. The track would have to be free of any sharp cornering.

You test / retest the horse under similar conditions each time, e.g., temperature, time of day, time after feeding, weight of rider, same track.

Before conducting the first test, give you horse a ‘trial run' so that it is familiar with the task conditions involved.
Measuring Your Horse's Fitness (Part I)
Measuring Your Horse's Fitness (Part II)
Measuring Your Horse's Fitness (Part III)

Last year, I was approached by a student from the University of Sydney, Australia who wanted to conduct a small study using a Polar Equine Heart Rate Monitor. I have recently received the final report and have attached it for your perusal. This is an undergraduate study, which adds some more thoughts to the increasing knowledge we are seeking on using Polar Equine Heart Rate Technology in the preparation and care of horses.
The Accuracy of Traditional Manual Methods

Fit for EVENTING by Dual Olympic Gold Medallist Jill Ralton Eventing, the triathlon of horse-sports, incorporates the three quite different disciplines of dressage, speed and endurance (cross country) and show jumping. 
Fit For Eventing

At a recent seminar on Electrolyte replacers for horses, we were provided with two options; One (option A) which contained more chloride, potassium, magnesium and calcium ions which it was claimed are lost in greater amounts with heavy sweating, longer duration work, or in hot humid conditions. In addition...
Electrolyte replacers for horses

Exercise, Training and Recovery Why do we spend hours and hours training our horses? The answer of course, is to get them fitter so that they are better able to handle the endurance competition and its associated stresses. Some of the great responses to a good aerobic or endurance-training program are... 
Horses Heart (Part I)
Horses Heart (Part II)
Horses Heart (Part III)

Incorporating heart rate measurement into your horse's training program will help maximize its genetic potential and racing performance. In addition, you will start to learn how each of your horses respond to different types of training, tracks and environmental conditions, and you will certainly be seen to be more professional and accountable by your owners...
Using Exercise Heart Rate

With advancements in technology, the horse heart rate monitor is now starting to replace the stethoscope in many stables, studs, farms and veterinary clinics. The latest POLAR Horse Heart Rate monitors (HHRM) are accurate and reliable, simple to use and quick and easy to put on your horse. In addition, there is no ‘hard wire' connection between you and the horse transmitter allowing you freedom of movement...
Polar HHRM - 10 Ways To Use It