POLO FIT Research Study in Partnership with MSU Kinesiology Department Anna Munie (‘02) and Abby Pritchard (‘20) - Michigan State University
“Really? I didn’t know horseback riders were athletes! Doesn’t the horse do all the work?” It’s a question that many polo players hear throughout their lifetime. While a polo player knows full well how mentally and physically taxing the sport can be, the general public often remains unaware of these demands. This was the case for Abby Pritchard, a Ph.D. candidate in Animal Science researching equine exercise physiology and nutrition at Michigan State University (MSU) and member of the MSU Polo Club. She was asked this exact question when taking a Kinesiology class at MSU taught by assistant professor David Ferguson, Ph.D. After class, Pritchard approached Dr. Ferguson and gave him more background on exactly what polo requires from an athletic perspective. During this discussion, Dr. Ferguson realized that the physical requirements and exertion of a polo player seemed to have significant similarities to some of his current research measuring the human performance of race car drivers. In his research, drivers wear equipment that measure a variety of physiological responses; results are then analyzed to see how much physical stress and exertion race car drivers experience, as well as what variables influence their performance. Pritchard and Dr. Ferguson realized there was no reason that this same approach couldn’t be applied to polo, and with some volunteers from the MSU Polo Club, a semester long study on human performance in arena polo began. The study was designed to include riding, stick-andballing, as well as playing full chukkers. During each session, participants wore specific testing equipment that allowed Dr. Ferguson and Pritchard to collect the following data on each player: -Heart Rate -Ventilation (volume of air passing in and out of the lungs) -VO2 (oxygen uptake) -Respiratory Exchange Ratio (ratio between carbon dioxide produced and oxygen used) -Rate of Perceived Exertion (how hard the participant thinks s/he is working) 30
I/I MAGAZINE - 2020
To get these measurements, players wore a sealed mask, heart rate monitor, and mobile respiratory gas analyzer underneath a protective vest. They then performed a very strict testing protocol that included timed periods of walk, trot, and canter in each direction. This warmup was followed by a “free choice” period of time in which the player could warm up for the upcoming chukker however they saw fit. Finally, full arena polo chukkers were played with other members of the study. Players continued to wear the equipment between chukkers and during cool down to determine exact differences in performance before, during, and after play. Not surprisingly, there were a lot of challenges associated with setting up and using this specialized equipment in a polo setting. “Being in charge of organizing the study, and having to set up the equipment, was definitely the most challenging aspect” said Pritchard. “The equipment was borrowed from the MSU Kinesiology department, and it took a little while to figure out how to set it up and get it working properly in a barn environment filled with horses. This equipment had never really been used outside of a laboratory setting.” Things didn’t get any easier for the participants wearing the equipment. All MSU Polo Club members who participated in the study agreed that they had to re-adjust their entire swing while riding and wearing the equipment; the mask especially was very bulky, and restricted players’ vision of the arena, and even the ball, at times. As if wearing what amounted to a fighter jet mask and battery pack while playing polo wasn’t difficult enough, each participating player also had to complete a VO2max test once all the data was collected. “Basically, you run on a treadmill at increasing speeds and elevation until you fall off” joked most participants as they got set up to perform the test. The VO2max test, which measures maximal oxygen uptake, allowed Dr. Ferguson and Pritchard to baseline maximum exertion efforts against what the players experienced while playing polo during the study. The next step was to take all of the raw data and run a full statistical analysis to determine the differences between I/I MAGAZINE - 2020
31