Conversations in Equine Science

Electrocardiograms in horses...using a fitness tracker.

This week Nancy and Kate discuss the findings of a research paper comparing the electrocardiograms of the Televet ECG device with the Equimetre fitness tracker.
Research Reference:
Ter Woort, F., Dubois, G., Tansley, G., Didier, M., Verdegaal, E.L., Franklin, S. and Van Erck‐Westergren, E., 2023. Validation of an equine fitness tracker: ECG quality and arrhythmia detection. Equine Veterinary Journal, 55(2), pp.336-343.
Link: https://beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/evj.13565
Thanks everyone for listening in so regularly! Please let us know if you have any research inquiries.

Equine Neck Pain

This episode Kate and Nancy discuss Equine Cervical Pain, clinical signs and treatment.
Research Reference/Link (open access):
Story, Melinda R., Kevin K. Haussler, Yvette S. Nout-Lomas, Tawfik A. Aboellail, Christopher E. Kawcak, Myra F. Barrett, David D. Frisbie, and C. Wayne McIlwraith. (2021). "Equine Cervical Pain and Dysfunction: Pathology, Diagnosis and Treatment" Animals 11, no. 2: 422.
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/2/422#app1-animals-11-00422

Rein Tension Research

This week Nancy and Kate discuss a study involving harness trotters and the rein tension that occurred in different gaits.
Research Reference/Link (open access):
Egenvall A, Byström A, Pökelmann M, Connysson M, Kienapfel-Henseleit K, Karlsteen M, McGreevy P and Hartmann E (2022) Rein tension in harness trotters during on-track exercise. Frontier Veterinary Science. 9:987852.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.987852/full

Get Your Horses ”Into The Zone”.

This week Kate and Nancy discuss the theory of "Flow" and is it possible to achieve/measure it in horses and other animals.
Research Reference and Link (open access):
Hintze, S. and Yee, J.R. (2023), Animals in flow – towards the scientific study of intrinsic reward in animals. Biological Reviews. 
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/brv.12930

The effect of stress and exercise on the learning performance of horses.

In this episode Nancy and Kate discuss a paper on the effects of inactivity, moderate exercise and uncontrolled stress on the learning capability of horses.
Research Reference and Link (Open Access):
Henshall, C., Randle, H., Francis, N. et al (2022). The effect of stress and exercise on the learning performance of horses. Scientific Reports, 12, 1918.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-03582-4

Three Decades of Research Dedicated to Making Equine Bones Stronger.

This week Kate and Nancy discuss the newest research paper by Professor Brian Nielsen Of Michigan State University.
Research Reference and Link (Open Access):
Nielsen, B.D. A Review of Three Decades of Research Dedicated to Making Equine Bones Stronger: Implications for Horses and Humans. Animals 2023, 13, 789.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13050789

Work Satisfaction in the Veterinary Profession.

This week Nancy and Kate discuss Kate's research paper that was recently published in the Frontiers in Veterinary Science Journal.
Elte Y, Acton K, Martin J, Nielen M, van Weeren R and Wolframm I (2023) Engage and enjoy–investigating predictors of employee
engagement and work satisfaction in equine veterinary professionals. Front. Vet. Sci. 10:1036388. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1036388
Link (open access): https://eprints.ncl.ac.uk/file_store/production/289354/C0AEFFCA-8F7F-46C2-A0C4-A217DBF85AB3.pdf

Force and Pressure Distribution of Treeless Dressage Saddles and Conventional Dressage Saddles.

This week Kate and Nancy discuss a paper by Hilary Clayton on force and pressures of two styles of dressage saddles; treeless and conventional.
Research Reference and Link (this paper is not open access):
Hilary M. Clayton, Katherine A. O’Connor, LeeAnn J. Kaiser, (2014).
Force and pressure distribution beneath a conventional dressage saddle and a treeless dressage saddle with panels,
The Veterinary Journal, Volume 199, Issue 1, pp. 44-48.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S109002331300508X?via%3Dihub#section-cited-by

Recognizing anxiety in horses.

This episode Nancy looks into a recent research paper that analyzed interview responses from registered Equine Behaviorists on how well their clients detected fear and anxiety behavior in horses.
Research reference and link (Open Access):
Rogers, Suzanne, and Catherine Bell. 2022. "Perceptions of Fear and Anxiety in Horses as Reported in Interviews with Equine Behaviourists" Animals 12, no. 21: 2904.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12212904

Horse-show anxiety and how mental preparation can build self confidence for competition success.

This week Kate and Nancy discuss pre-performance anxiety and how elite riders manage and control their anxiety during high pressure situations.
S. McGinn, D. Alcock, and L.J. Cameron (2018). "Straight from the horse’s mouth: understanding professional event riders’ mental preparation for maximising self-confidence prior to competition using thematic analysis." Comparative Exercise Physiology Vol 14 Issue 4, pp. 261-270.
Link to research paper:
https://www.wageningenacademic.com/doi/epdf/10.3920/CEP180020?role=tab