Do you like playing computer games? Here’s a STEM learning game where you get to be an equine scientist working on an exercise physiology research study. Science Talk – physiology (fizzy-all-uh-gee): The study of how living things use air, pump blood, cool down, burn calories, and more. You’ll be responsible for preparing a horse, running the…
Spring is here, and for some lucky horses this means spending time in a pasture eating grass. It is tempting to turn horses out into spring pastures at the first sight of green grass, especially after a long winter. However, spring grazing should be introduced slowly. How do you go about introducing horses to spring grass?…
Have you ever watched a mare and her foal together? Newborn foals tend to stay close to their mother’s side. Over time, as the foal gets older, they venture further apart. Researchers in Japan were curious about how this distance changes over time. To study mare and foal behaviour, they attached GPS devices to the halters on…
Is it possible to estimate how big a foal will be when they reach mature size? While there is no one exact mathematical formula for estimating a foals’ mature size, several methods have been developed for estimating mature horse height in foals and yearlings. One method of measurement is to measure a straight line in…
What would you do if you learned about a neglected filly that needed help? In this horse rescue story, students at Southport Elementary School in North Carolina, came together to help a one-year-old filly named Piper. The students first heard about Piper through one of the school’s physical education teachers, Donna Michaux. Donna had attended a conference where…
Icelandic horses have two extra gaits. In addition to the gaits which all horses show (walk, trot, canter), Icelandic horses also have tölt and pace. In Iceland, the tölt is highly-valued because it is so comfortable to ride over long distances. Tölt is referred to as the fourth gait. It has four beats with phases in which the horse…