Conversations in Equine Science

This week Nancy talks about Lis Hartel's equestrian challenges and accomplishments. Lis was the first woman to earn a medal in the Equestrian Olympics. Link to the schedule for the 2024 Equestrian Olympic events: https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/schedule/equestrian

This week Kate and Nancy discuss how important sleep is in equestrian performance and safety. References: Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse, MD (2024). Sleep can give athletes an edge over competitors − but few recognize how fundamental sleep is to performance. The Conversation, University of Pittsburgh. Link: https://theconversation.com/sleep-can-give-athletes-an-edge-over-competitors-but-few-recognize-h...

This week Nancy and Kate respond to a listener's email about limiting rider injuries and accidents by staying physically fit through diet and exercise protocols. Research References: Best, Russ, Jane M. Williams, and Jeni Pearce. (2023). "The Physiological Requirements of and Nutritional Recommendations for Equestrian Riders" Nutrients 15, no. 23: 4977. Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15234977

This week Nancy and Kate discuss the results of a 2024 study on the effectiveness of Kinesiology tape on horses to reduce pain. Research reference: Melissa R. King, Hope Pavsek, Katherine L. Ellis, Jodie Daglish (2024). Effects of elastic therapeutic tape on thoracolumbar epaxial muscle pain in horses, Journal of Equine Rehabilitation,, Volume 2, 100007, ISSN 2949-9054. Here is the link to "Effect...

This week Nancy continues with the story of Lexington and his stallion career, the effects of the civil war and how his skeleton made the journey back to his birthplace of Kentucky 160 years after his birth. Reference: Wickens, Kim (2023). Lexington: The Extraordinary Life and Turbulent Times of America's Legendary Racehorse. Ballantine Books, New York, USA. (416 pages.)

This week Nancy goes back in history to talk about the antebellum era of racing and the impact the horse Lexington had on the nation during the turbulent pre-civil war days. Research References/Links: Wickens, Kim (2023). Lexington: The Extraordinary Life and Turbulent Times of America's Legendary Racehorse. Ballantine Books, New York, USA. (416 pages.)

In this episode Nancy and Kate discuss a 2023 paper on equine genomics and behavior traits. Research reference/link: Holtby, A.R., Hall, T.J., McGivney, B.A., Han, H., Murphy, K.J., MacHugh, D.E. et al. (2023) Integrative genomics analysis highlights functionally relevant genes for equine behaviour. Animal Genetics, 54, 457–469. Available from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/age....

Today's episode is about the variability of the Equine Gut Biome. Christine Sanchez has been researching the importance of biome health in all horses. For more information contact Christine at chrisiesanchez@gmail.com or Dr. Tom Schell @ secondvet.com

This week Kate and Nancy revisit the Donkey Skin Trade (ejiao) crisis and the African Union Ban of February 2024. Research Reference/Link: Shan Su, Ewan A. Macdonald, Nico Arcilla, Maurice Beseng, Felipe Thomaz, David W. Macdonald (2023). Characterising the links between the trade in donkey skins for traditional Chinese medicine and timber of conservation concern, Global Ecology and Conservation,...

This episode Nancy and Kate interview Scott Cieslar owner of MadBarn. Madbarn is a nutrition, and supplement company that also fuels equine research. Listen in and check out the website @ https://madbarn.com/ (USA) or https://madbarn.ca/ (Canada).

This week Kate and Nancy discuss using smartphone apps to help in the recognition of emotions and pain in horses. Research Reference/Link Corujo, Luis A., Emily Kieson, Timo Schloesser, and Peter A. Gloor. (2021). "Emotion Recognition in Horses with Convolutional Neural Networks" Future Internet 13, no. 10: 250. https://doi.org/10.3390/fi13100250 Equine Pain and Welfare App: Apple: https://apps.ap...

Nancy and Kate talk about Dr. Manfredi's equine metabolic research at Michigan State University. Reference/Link to article: Manfredi, J. (2023). Horse health research will help humans stay healthy, too, with insights on reining in diabetes and obesity, The Conversation; Michigan State University. https://theconversation.com/horse-health-research-will-help-humans-stay-healthy-too-with-insights-on-r...

This week Nancy takes a look at the use of Bell Mares during the 1800s up to WWII. Research References: L. Proops et al (2012). Social relations in a mixed group of mules, ponies and donkeys reflect differences in equid type , Behavioral Processes. Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376635712000654 Górecka-Bruzda A, Jastrzębska E, Drewka M, Nadolna Z, Becker K, Lansade L...

This episode Kate and Nancy discuss a listeners' recently published research. This research is a 2024 update to our past episodes on Equine Assisted Therapy. Research Reference: Seery, Rita, and Deborah Wells. 2024. "An Exploratory Study into the Backgrounds and Perspectives of Equine-Assisted Service Practitioners" Animals 14, no. 2: 347. Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14020347

This week Nancy and Kate discuss a listeners' email request via a recently published paper on the effects of weather on pastured horses. Research Reference and Link (not open access-snippets available.): Keller, G.A.; Nielsen, B.D.; Vergara-Hernandez, F.B.; Robison, C.I. Tracking the Impact of Weather on Equine Activity While Pastured. J. Equine Vet. Sci. 2022, 116, 104052. https://www.sciencedire...

Kate and Nancy discuss using the EBPI to manage osteoarthritis in horses. References and Link: Howard DL, Lancaster B, de Grauw J. Development and Preliminary Validation of an Equine Brief Pain Inventory for Owner Assessment of Chronic Pain Due to Osteoarthritis in Horses. Animals. 2024; 14(2):181. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani1402018

Nancy and Kate discuss the horses role in 1872 and how an equine flu epidemic shut down the US economy, but also led to improved horse welfare. Research Reference/Link: Freeberg, Ernest (2020). How a flu virus shut down the US economy in 1872 – by infecting horses. The Conversation US, Boston, MA. December Issue. https://theconversation.com/how-a-flu-virus-shut-down-the-us-economy-in-1872-by-infec...

Nancy and Kate review their favorite episodes and then reveal the favorite episodes of the listeners. Welcome Everyone to 2024 - Season 5

Kate and Nancy discuss their recently published research paper on the preliminary results of their Conversations in Equine Science listener survey. Reference and Link: Acton, K., McLean, N. & MacKay, J.R.D. (2023) Preliminary evidence supporting the use of equine science podcasts to bridge the gap between scientists and horse enthusiasts to improve horse welfare. Equine Veterinary Education, 0...

This week Nancy and Kate discuss how horses are once again helping humans navigate the new frontier of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Research Reference and Link: Eakta Jain and Christina Gardner-McCune. 2023. Horse as Teacher: How human-horse interaction informs human-robot interaction. In Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '23). Association for Compu...

This week Nancy discusses two peer reviewed papers on how to assess arena surface safety and usefulness. Research References and Links: Holt, D., Northrop, A., Martin, J., Daggett, A. and Hobbs, S. (2014), What do Riders Want from an Arena Surface?. Equine Vet J, 46: 41-42.  https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.12267_126 Northrop, A., Martin, J., Blundell, E., Owen, A. and Hobbs, S. (2014), Development of...

This week Nancy gives a summary of her results with replicating the hind-end massage study using her own horses. Research Reference/Link: Mabbutt, C., Yarnell, K., and Ferro de Godoy, R. (2022). Comparative Exercise Physiology Vol. 18 (5), pp. 419-426 https://www.wageningenacademic.com/doi/epdf/10.3920/CEP220022?role=tab

This week Kate and Nancy discuss the recently published paper questioning the protests and disagreements that occurred at this years (2023) Grand National at Aintree. Research Reference and Link (Open Access): Pearson, G.; Douglas, J.; Wolframm, I.; Furtado, T. Used like Pawns or Treated like Kings? How Narratives around Racehorse Welfare in the 2023 Grand National May Affect Public Acceptance: An...

This week Nancy discusses a research paper comparing pressures/forces in bareback riding with riding in a well fitted conventional saddle. Research Reference with Link: H.M. Clayton et al.(2013). Forces and pressures on the horse’s back during bareback riding. The Veterinary Journal.

This week Nancy and Kate discuss a paper that investigated a herd of 18 mares that were housed on a pasture since 1979 without a deworming program. Nancy also relates the lecture information from a seminar she attended about deworming horses to combat parasite resistance. Reference and Link to Research Paper: Steuer, A.E., Anderson, H.P., Shepherd, T. et al. (2022). Parasite dynamics in untreated...