Recovery Ledger: Conditioning & Recovery Guide
Track how a horse recovers after work using heart rate, breathing, heat load, optional lactate, and a whole-horse check. Slowing recovery often shows strain before anything else does.
01What the Recovery Ledger measures
The Recovery Ledger measures recovery, not performance during work. A horse whose recovery is slowing across sessions may be overworked, unfit for the task, too hot, or coming down with something, often before you can see it.
| System | Measure | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiac | Heart rate at each minute after work; time to target | Target 64 bpm or lower, from endurance vet-gate practice |
| Respiratory | Breathing rate during recovery | Breathing that matches or exceeds heart rate ("inversion") is a heat-stress sign |
| Muscular (optional) | Blood lactate at about 5 minutes, then later | Under 2 mmol/L aerobic · 2–4 threshold · over 4 anaerobic. A falling second reading shows clearance. |
| Environment | Air temperature + humidity | Heat index bands, section 05 |
| Whole horse | Hydration, gut sounds, attitude and gait, welfare flags | Section 04, step 7 |
Not for: diagnosis, a veterinary exam, a lameness or cardiac workup, or a competition gate. The Recovery Ledger is not affiliated with the LARC TEST, a separate proprietary commercial service.
02Who may administer it
A veterinarian or veterinary technician, a trained educator, or an owner or trainer who has read this guide. Lactate requires a blood sample; it is optional and may be skipped.
The horse comes before the data. If the horse is distressed, overheated, bleeding, or unwell in any way, stop recording and attend to the horse.
03Equipment
- Timer or phone stopwatch
- Stethoscope or a girth-strap heart-rate monitor
- Thermometer and hygrometer, or a weather app for temperature and humidity
- Water, sponges, and shade for cooling
- Optional: handheld lactate meter and strips
- A phone or tablet with the app open on the Recovery tab
04The protocol, step by step
- Set up the session. Pick the horse, date, work type (conditioning gallop, interval or fitness set, cross-country school, dressage schooling, jump school, hack or long slow distance, competition round, return to work), and discipline.
- Take a resting baseline. Resting heart rate (about 28–44 bpm in an adult horse), optional resting respiration (8–16 breaths per minute), air temperature, and humidity. The heat index fills in.
- Do the planned work. Record duration and effort (easy, moderate, hard, maximal) relative to the horse's current fitness. Note peak heart rate if you have a monitor.
- Start timing the moment work ends. Record heart rate at 1, 5, and 10 minutes at minimum; use + Add a reading for more. The app interpolates time to the recovery target, 64 bpm by default. Change the target if your vet or discipline uses another.
- Count respiration during recovery. If it matches or exceeds heart rate, flag heat stress and cool actively.
- Optional lactate. Sample at about 5 minutes, then again a few minutes later to check clearance.
- Whole-horse check. Hydration (good, mild, poor: gum moisture, capillary refill, skin tent), gut sounds (normal, reduced, quiet or absent), attitude and gait (bright, flat or dull, short or off behind). Tick any flags: blood at nostrils, cough or abnormal breathing, cramping or tie-up, filled or warm legs. Note footing or anything unusual.
- Save the session. The horse's history updates. Repeat across the season under similar conditions so sessions compare.
05Heat index
| Index | Band | Meaning for work and recovery |
|---|---|---|
| Under 130 | Safe | Cooling works well; recovery readings are reliable |
| 130–150 | Caution | Cooling is working harder; watch recovery and keep water close |
| 150–180 | High | Cooling is compromised, especially in high humidity; shorten work and cool aggressively |
| Over 180 | Dangerous | Sweating can't keep up; avoid hard work and don't judge fitness from the session |
06Reading a session
The read on each session is an educational summary of that session, not of the horse's health. Interpret it in three bands:
| Band | Looks like | Do |
|---|---|---|
| On track | Reached target within about 10 minutes; no flags | Continue the program |
| Watch | Slow recovery, uncleared lactate, marginal hydration, or heat | Re-check under cooler conditions or easier work |
| Attention | A welfare flag, or markedly poor recovery | Involve your veterinarian |
Trends across sessions matter more than any one result. Add a management note on the BCS tab when you change the program, so the change shows on the horse's timeline.
07Speed and rodeo events
Barrel racing, pole bending, and roping are short, near-maximal bursts. Lead with lactate clearance and the heat index, use heart-rate recovery mainly to compare sessions over time, and give the whole-horse check extra weight.
08Stop and call your veterinarian
- Blood at the nostrils, even a small amount
- Breathing outrunning heart rate that does not settle with cooling
- Cramping, or a stiff, short gait (possible tying-up)
- A dull horse that is not recovering
09Limitations and sources
The Recovery Ledger supports conditioning of healthy horses in training. It cannot detect or rule out disease, and normal-looking numbers do not confirm health. Persistent poor recovery, unexplained loss of performance, or any respiratory or cardiac concern belongs with a veterinarian, ideally one with a sports-medicine interest.
Draws on standard equine exercise-physiology measures used in eventing and endurance research, including heart-rate recovery, lactate clearance, V200, and VLa4. The 64 bpm reference comes from endurance vet-gate criteria; the heat index is a common rule of thumb in equine sport.