Friesian lung size?

[philosoraptor]

@Tiki;3233287

A body’s surface area is a measurement of the skin that covers the body. You may have noticed that adults and children (and babies in particular) have very different reactions to heat and cold. This happens because the body cools down by sweating at a rate proportional to the area of its skin, but warms up in proportion to its mass (volume). The ratio of surface area to mass is much larger for babies, so they cool down faster than adults.

If that were true, I would never need a coat in the winter. :lol:

You have to admit there are many more variables that determine if an animal feels overheated: metabolism, health, individual body chemistry, efficiency of cooling system (eg perspiration), how easily stressed the body is by heat, and so on. For example: a 20 yr old person and a 80 yr old, both of the same size, will have vastly different reactions to heat/cold. During heat waves, it’s the elderly who suffer health problems due to heat first, not the large people.

When it comes to the friesians, could it be they just weren’t bred for this type of work performed in hot weather? I know from having heavy drafts that they thrive in cold but don’t seem do so well in extreme heat. They also can work hard all day long (eg. amish plow horses) but their energy is slow and steady, not big bursts. If you take a Friesian, a breed somewhere between the drafts and the light horses, and you try to make him perform like a light horse, some of them may struggle. I don’t think it’s as simple as “lung size” or “windpipe size”. Their muscling is different in the drafts and draft crosses (slow-twitch vs fast-twitch muscles). Proof of this is the muscle metabolic disease EPSM which has a higher probability of showing up in a draft or draftX.

The real question is can a friesian be a good dressage competition horse? I’d say yes, especially if you’re picking an indivual that’s showing good promise a the sport. I have a friend who rides & breeds (purebred) Friesians, and when they’re trained it’s to show in dressage.

[Evalee_Hunter]

[QUOTE=rcloisonne;3235736]
One is left to wonder why, then, the largest land mammal on the planet (the African Elephant) lives at or near the Equator?[/QUOTE]

An excellent question … to which I do not have a complete answer as I have limited knowledge of how elephants cool themselves. One thing I DO know about elephants is that the African elephant has VERY LARGE ears, which are relatively thin. These large ears are moved (flapped) to keep air moving over them & assist in cooling. This part of the answer, at least, does relate to surface:volume ratio. The rest of the answer as to how elephants cool themselves & what evolutionary advantage large size gives them, I don’t have/don’t know at this moment. It is always good to have the general “rules” challenged by examples of exceptions.

[Kathy_Johnson]

I believe elephants cool themselves by spraying themselves with their trunks, something my waterbaby Friesian wishes he had, along with gills. Since he does not have a pond to play in, he puts both front feet in the water tank–he’s so tall, it’s like a wading pool to him.

[Donella]

Yeah, elephants have alot of skin which assists in cooling, as well as the large, thin ears (again, more skin). Anyways, I think the mane problem with friesians is that they are black and tend to have alot of hair. Even the summer coat is thicker than the normal horse…this make it harder for them in hot weather. They are a northern coastal breed and they are a very old breed and they thrive in colder temps.