Skip to content. | Skip to navigation

Share  

Penn State Equine Research Team

The equine research team is composed of students and faculty interested in equine research.

Objectives:

  • Offer an opportunity for exposure to equine research to undergraduate students
  • Help undergraduate students develop a basic understanding of the "real world" of equine research
  • Help undergraduate students learn about graduate school opportunities here at Penn State and across the country
  • Provide a setting for informal and enlightening discussion of equine science

psertspring2008


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Penn-State Equine Research Team, Spring 2008

Studies with PSERT involvment

Synovial Fluid Study with Jen Morrissey

  • Study was performed in the summer of 2008.
  • Members were involved in IGF-1 analysis in the Staniar Lab.
  • This study was performed to see if starch concentration in the diet would affect synovial fluid metabolism in horses.

Glycemic Index Study with Hillary Grube

  • Members volunteered in the summer of 2008.
  • Members on the IACUC for the study were allowed to draw samples from the horses.
  • All members assisted in setup, sample organization, sample preparation, and some analyzed samples in the Staniar lab.
  • This study used 10 different horses with various diets. Plasma samples were drawn at specific intervals to be tested in the laboratory.

Teff Hay Study with Jessica Bussard and Natasha Repard

  • Members volunteered in the spring of 2009.
  • Volunteers were in charge of working with the principal researchers to Take care of the horses general wellbeing, monitor the horses throughout the study, take samples, feed the horses a measured amount of food, and watch the barns during the study periods.
  • This study used six different horses to test the affect that early, mid, and late cuts of Teff hay had on dry matter digestibility and palatability.

The Penn State Equine Research Team is measuring Quarter Horses and providing the data to researchers at Cornell University. The title of the Cornell study is "Morphometrics And QTL Mapping Of Skeletal Variation In The Horse" and is headed up by Dr. Nathan Sutter and with Dr. Samantha Brooks.

  • Team members are collecting data in the Fall of 2009.
  • Members were involved in measuring, collecting DNA, and photographing horses at Penn State.
  • The objective of this study is to determine body size genes and their influence on cellular process (like growth). Along with investigating body size genes, the study also aims to determine breed characteristic genes which are important to horse breeders (skeletal and conformational characteristics). Dr. Samantha Brooks and Dr. Nathan Sutter are collecting measurements and DNA samples from hundreds of horses whom are diffent breeds, sizes, shapes, colors and types in order to provide clues as to which genes are responsible for body size.
  • Contact PSERT co-advisor - Ann Macrina alm106@psu.edu

If interested in the joining the team contact Dr. Burt Staniar:

Email: wstaniar@psu.edu

Phone: (814) 865-0698

 

Document Actions