INCORPORATION OF EQUINE BIOMECHANICS PROGRAM INTO EQUINE SCIENCE CURRICULUM AND UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROGRAM

Summary

Development of equine research and course work in the field of biomechanics has been successfully integrated into the equine science program this year. Equine biomechanics and gait analysis is a growing area of interest in the performance horse industry and equine academia. A software program, OnTrack Equine, has been purchased and utilized in several equine lecture and laboratory classes and has been implemented to conduct undergraduate research projects in the field of biomechanics. This has allowed for the restructuring of the course, ADSC 3230(L), into a more scientific course on equine anatomy and biomechanics that better fits the interest of pre-veterinary and equine industry oriented students. It has also allowed for the implementation of undergraduate and graduate research projects that should yield journal manuscripts and presentations at scientific meetings. Finally, these topics have been incorporated into existing extension programs to expand on these programs, thereby generating money for future equine extension programming.

Situation

Equine biomechanics is a growing field in academia across the country. In previous years, this is not a subject that has been incorporated into the curriculum at UGA. The course ADSC 3230(L), Light Horse Evaluation, has been taught in the past as a horse judging class that was a prerequisite for the horse judging team. For the past several years, however, UGA has not had a competitive horse judging team. Student enrollment in the class has been low (12-14 students each year) due to the fact that a prerequisite horse judging course with no competitive horse judging team is not of interest to many students. Additionally, a majority of ADS students have a strong interest in veterinary medicine. Memorizing horse judging scoring systems and penalties does not fit well with most of their career goals since the opportunity to use this knowledge to compete on a horse judging team does not currently exist. There is, however, a strong state youth horse judging program in 4-H and FFA. A separate issue faced by the department is the increasing interest by equine students in undergraduate research. Since graduate level equine research is virtually non-existent in the ADS department, undergraduates have had no place to go to gain research experience. Many have a genuine interest in graduate school and would like the opportunity to gain exposure to equine research in some form.

Response

The program, OnTrack Equine, was purchased late in 2008 and has been steadily implemented in increasing levels to teach classes and conduct research projects. It was used briefly in 2009 to teach portions of the ADSC 3230(L) course on quality of gaits in performance horses. Interest in this subject was high and enrollment in ADSC 3230(L) has been moderately higher in 2010 (19 students). In 2010, ADSC 3230(L) has been completely revamped to fit the interests of the majority of students in the equine major and to make the course more fit an upper level science course. The class now discusses in detail equine anatomy and biomechanics. Laboratory activities have been designed to allow students use of the OnTrack Equine program to explore subjects that are pertinent to the horse industry (i.e., quality of gaits and biomechanics, biomechanics of equine lameness, biomechanics and training, biomechanics and hoof care). Laboratory activities have been expanded to include mini research projects on the above mentioned topics that have allowed for the incorporation of formal papers and presentations to improve written and oral communication skills. Additionally, undergraduate and MADS research projects have been, and are currently being, conducted in the field of equine biomechanics. These projects can be done at little cost to the department but allow students to gain exposure into scientific methods of research in an equine related field. Finally, incorporation of equine biomechanics into existing extension programs on horse judging has added a new component to these programs that fits well with program curriculum but allows for more in-depth examination of topics on performance horses.

Impact

This fall is the first semester teaching ADSC 3230(L) using revamped curriculum. Topics on gait analysis and biomechanics have been added, and unique laboratory opportunities have been successfully implemented. It is possible that this course could be changed to a 4000 level equine course if the Equine Reproduction class is not able to be taught in future years. Research projects utilizing the gait analysis software program have been implemented with successful results. The first project done utilizing the software investigated the effects of horse shoe materials on equine biomechanics in performance horses. The undergraduate student who conducted this series of experiments presented her findings at the CURO Symposium in March, 2010. Her results were favorably received and the potential to collaborate with the human kinesiology department in the future was discussed. The manuscript is currently being submitted to a refereed journal for publication consideration. A second experiment examining the effects of polysulfated glycosaminoglycans on joint range of motion is currently being conducted by a MADS student. This is a very large project spanning several semesters, and several equine science undergraduates are enrolled in undergraduate research to help with both conducting the project and analyzing the data collected. This project, along with the horse shoeing project, should produce results that can be presented at national equine science meetings next summer. Additionally, the software program has been used in the teaching of the horsemanship classes (ADSC 2500L and ADSC 3500L) to study rider angles based on teaching methods used and to allow students enrolled in the course the opportunity to evaluate their skills throughout the semester. This has allowed for the incorporation of critical thinking skills and written communication skills into courses that are predominantly hands on laboratory classes. It has also allowed for small scale teaching projects to be conducted in these courses. These projects have already received IRB approval and are being incorporated into classes. Finally, incorporation of biomechanics into existing horse judging programs has allowed for expansion of these programs and a more in depth examination of topics pertaining to horse judging. These programs were favorably received and have generated approximately $1000 of unrestricted money to be used in the equine extension program this year.

State Issue

Other Issue

Details

• Year: 2010
• Geographic Scope: University
• County: Clarke
• Program Areas:
  • Agriculture & Natural Resources