2007 WALTHAM® contribute at Biannual Equine Science Society Symposium

The WALTHAM® Equine Studies Group and its international collaborators demonstrated their significant contribution to equine science at the influential Biannual Equine Science Society Symposium held at the University of Maryland, USA earlier this month. The Group and its collaborators presented 12 papers - the highest number to be received from any one group.  

Pat Harris MA PhD, VetMB DipECVCN MRCVS, head of the WALTHAM® Equine Studies Group, together with collaborators from the UK, Michigan State University, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University covered a variety of topics, sharing the latest science and research on scientific aspects of equine nutrition.  Subjects included breeding, the growing thoroughbred, endurance training and the dynamics of glucose and insulin. The WALTHAM® papers were presented mainly by graduate students who have been supervised during their Masters or PhD programmes by WALTHAM®.

Pat Harris said: “It was a significant achievement that WALTHAM® and our collaborators were responsible for around 15% of the total number of presentations, (excluding the Teaching and Extension papers), given at the Symposium. It indicates WALTHAM’s® commitment to international excellence in the field of equine studies and the sharing of this knowledge.”

WALTHAM® is the world’s leading authority on pet care and nutrition and its Equine Studies Group is dedicated to advancing the science of horse nutrition and providing the scientific support behind the SPILLERS® and WINERGY® brands.  The Group regularly collaborates with key research institutes and universities around the world and its work remains at the forefront of equine nutritional science. 

A list of the papers presented follows below:  

• Nutritional effects on insulin sensitivity and glucose dynamics in pregnant and non pregnant mares.
• Insulin sensitivity and glucose dynamics in foals as influenced by age and maternal diet during gestation.
• Hydration status of horses during endurance exercise as affected by dietary fibre type.
• Synovial fluid and plasma insulin- like growth factor (IGF-1) in growing thoroughbred horses.
• Standardised scoring systems and morphometric measurements to assess adiposity in horses and ponies.
• Glucose and insulin dynamics during the estrous cycle of thoroughbred mares.
• Endurance training has little impact on mineral content of the third metacarpus in two-year old Arabian horses.
• Circadian and seasonal fluctuations of glucose and insulin concentrations in grazing horses.
• Circadian and seasonal fluctuations in forage non-structural carbohydrate content.
• Potassium- free electrolytes affect plasma calcium during exercise.
• Dietary experience changes feeding preferences in the domestic horse.
• Evaluation of criteria for pre-laminitic metabolic syndrome

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