At first, I brushed aside the news. Heavens, I thought, there must be too many researchers with not enough projects on the books. I pondered the eventual diagnosis of Overtraining Syndrome in the ones actually doing the training. Getting up at 3 in the morning and going until dark. Dealing with customers, show dates, paying bills and trying to be everywhere at once.

Naw, there’s no stress there!

Wonder if owners would understand if their trainer called to say he was taking a little R&R, just some time to recover from overtraining syndrome. Probably not!

But then I Googled OTS and found out that it is a real condition in equines that, if identified, could perhaps be addressed proactively.

OTS is a complex condition that occurs in horses being rigorously trained. The horses go along nicely in their programs and then suddenly they begin losing ground for no noticeable reason. They are not lame or suffering from a diagnosable illness. A horse may drop weight, quit eating, suffer physiological difficulties, change behavior or slip in its training and ability. When the symptom/s continue for two weeks or more, researchers say a horse is at risk for OTS. A similar syndrome has been observed in human athletes. For a horse diagnosed with OTS, regular training is not as effective and might actually be counter-productive.

Researchers point to the imbalance of training and recovery time as a strong reason why horses experience OTS. Other factors such as management, feeding, disease and overall management may also play a role. Think of it as burnout due to stress. Obviously, there is no way to determine, scientifically, how a horse is faring mentally. But now, horses that inexplicably change their behavior or lose condition might be diagnosed earlier and thus treated/rested before they suffer more serious setbacks – costing owners and trainers time, money and progress.

Here's the Utrecht University press release:

“Researchers of the Utrecht University in The Netherlands have succeeded in diagnosing equine overtraining syndrome by measuring nocturnal growth hormone secretion. The results of this study offer the prospect for an improved treatment method for comparable stress related syndromes in humans, such as burnout.

Overtraining syndrome entails reduced performance despite the same or an increased level of training. The secretion of the nocturnal growth hormone is an indicator for overtraining syndrome. This hormone plays a role in both growth and stress. The researchers were able to diagnose overtraining syndrome by measuring the amount of hormone present in the horse’s blood. The focus can now be placed on determining effective prevention and treatment methods.

Researchers of the Utrecht University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in The Netherlands conducted the study in cooperation with Maastricht University, Vrije Universiteit Brussels and the University of Virginia in the United States.

Among the more than 200 symptoms described for overtraining syndrome among [human] athletes, not a single one has yet been determined to be specific to the disease’s clinical picture. As a result, it is still difficult to diagnose overtraining syndrome with certainty at an early stage. For humans, a Profile of Mood State (POMS) assessment tool is used to diagnose overtraining syndrome. This assessment tool measures changes in behaviour and mental state, which so far appear to be the most reliable indicators of overtraining syndrome. Further study should reveal whether measuring nocturnal growth hormone secretion, as is done with horses, can also be applied to humans to diagnose stress-related illnesses, including overtraining syndrome and burnout."