Conversations in Equine Science
Kate Acton (from Ireland) and Nancy McLean (from the USA) discuss equine research projects and studies to help bridge the gap between the scientific community and the general community of horse owners, trainers and enthusiasts.
Episodes
In this episode of Conversations in Equine Science, Kate and Nancy explore a compelling research paper titled "Retirement Risk Factors, Exercise Management, and Muscle Mass in U.S. Senior Horses" by Elisa Herbst. Published in May 2023, this paper dives into the intricacies of managing the health and exercise of senior horses in the U.S., examining factors such as retirement risk, exercise routines, and muscle mass preservation.
Th...
This episode Kate and Nancy discuss a scoping review of 46 research papers on the effects of horseshoe type on equine gait.
Open Access Research Reference/Link:
Aoun, R., Takawira, C., & Lopez, M. J. (2025). Horseshoe effects on equine gait-A systematic scoping review. Veterinary surgery : VS, 54(1), 31–51.
This week Kate and Nancy discuss rider back pain and it's association with 3 different stirrup lengths and 2 rider positions.
Research Reference:
Keener, Michaela M.1; Critchley, Meghan L.1; Layer, Jacob S.1; Johnson, Evan C.1; Barrett, Steven F.2; Dai, Boyi1. The Effect of Stirrup Length on Impact Attenuation and Its Association With Muscle Strength. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 35(11):p 3056-3062, November 202...
This week Nancy and Kate discuss the new movie produced by Sue Dyson. Watch the movie at the link below.
Nancy and Kate discuss a research paper on adjusting human craniosacral therapy to horses.
Reference: Kanik, W.; Augustyn, J.; Tombarkiewicz, B. Adapting Craniosacral Therapy to Treat Horses. Acta Vet. Brno 2017, 86, 75–84.
https://actavet.vfu.cz/media/pdf/actavet_2017086010075.pdf
Article Link: https://www.equinecraniosacral.com/articles/hands-on-light-touch.pdf
This week Kate and Nancy discuss the habit loop of cue-routine-reward and the benefits that horses derive from its formation.
Research Reference/Link:
White, J.; Sims, R. Improving Equine Welfare through Human Habit Formation. Animals 2021, 11, 2156. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11082156
This week Nancy and Kate discuss a just published research paper on the complex cognitive abilities of horses.
Research Reference:
Louise Evans, Heather Cameron-Whytock, Carrie Ijichi,
Whoa, No-Go: Evidence consistent with model-based strategy use in horses during an inhibitory task,
Applied Animal Behaviour Science, Volume 277,
106339, SSN 0168-1591,
Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159124001874?via%3D...
This week Nancy and Kate discuss this 2022 paper that demonstrates ponies are able to distinguish between facial expressions presented by a live human.
Research Reference/Link:
Merkies, Katrina, Yuliia Sudarenko, and Abigail J. Hodder. 2022. "Can Ponies (Equus Caballus) Distinguish Human Facial Expressions?" Animals 12, no. 18: 2331.
In this episode Kater and Nancy discuss a recently published paper correlating consistent high cortisol levels in horses with lower osteocalcinin levels.
Research Reference/Link:
Ayodele BA, Pagel CN, Mackie EJ, Armour F, Yamada S, Zahra P, et al. Differences in bone turnover markers and injury risks between local and international horses: A Victorian Spring Racing Carnival study. Equine Vet J. 2024.
This week Kate and Nancy review past research on Equine bone management.
Research Reference/Link:
Nielsen, Brian D. 2023. "A Review of Three Decades of Research Dedicated to Making Equine Bones Stronger: Implications for Horses and Humans" Animals 13, no. 5: 789.
This episode we are joined by Nikki, a listener with a research request. Nikki owns a 2 year old filly that she wants to work with now, in lieu, of waiting until her 4th/5th year. Nancy and Kate found some evidence based research that hopefully will help Nikki in her training decisions.
Research Reference/Link:
Logan, Alyssa A., and Brian D. Nielsen. 2021. "Training Young Horses: The Science behind the Benefits" Animals 11, no. 2:...
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:
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.
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 "Effects of elastic therapeutic tape on ...
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.13320#:~:text=t%20p%20s%3A%20//d%2...
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
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