In this sense, the heart rate variability (HRV) is a non-invasive index of the autonomous nerve activity, which reports the balance of the autonomic nervous system based on the successive heartbeats (also called the RR interval) variation over an interval of time. Most studies have focused on assessing physical benefits, but as far as we know, only two have evaluated the differences between these two kinds of activities at the autonomic nervous system level. These differences may be due to emotional aspects and not due to differences in the physical load, considering the absence of differences in the acute effects. Therefore, we state that the sympathetic tone is higher while riding a real horse than while riding a horse simulator. However, no differences were observed immediately after the two protocols. The findings indicate that the HRV was lower when participants were riding the horse compared with the activity on the horse simulator.
We used the paired samples t-test to compare between the HRV during the horse-riding and the horse simulator-riding activities, as well as the differences in the acute effects between both situations. Furthermore, immediately after each protocol, the HRV at rest was also recorded to observe the acute effects. The sample consisted of a group of 23 healthy young adults aged 22.91 (2.37), who rode a horse for five minutes at walking speed and spent five minutes on a horse gait simulator, while their HRV values were being recorded.
This study aimed to compare the heart rate variability (HRV) in healthy young people while riding a real horse or a horse gait simulator.