Horses Teach Science to High School Students

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  Teenagers greet Snowdrift, the willing subject of their experiment in equine exercise physiology. Horses are extraordinary athletes, and they share a surprising number of physical attributes with humans, making them excellent research subjects for human as well as equine health issues. They are also beautiful, imposing, and powerful, and many of the kids whip out their cell phones to take pictures.

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  Center director Karyn Malinowski explains how the center’s equine treadmill works—just like the human version at your local gym—and how the horse can be monitored for physical changes as its exertion increases. She also reassures the kids that the process is not dangerous for horses. In fact, Snowdrift is eager to get started.

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  Rutgers graduate students prepare Snowdrift for her exercise routine, including attaching a breathing tube to record her oxygen consumption and taking a preexperiment blood sample. Horses are extremely efficient exercise machines. Snowdrift will demonstrate how effectively the oxygen content of her blood increases to support her gallop.

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  Snowdrift starts off at a walk and then a trot, as Professor Carey Williams (far left) describes the changes her body is undergoing.

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  Before long, Snowdrift is galloping full tilt for just a short time. Then another blood sample is taken, and she is cooled down.
  
  Click here to view a short video of the treadmill in action.

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  After the treadmill demo, graduate student Danielle Smarsh prepares and compares the blood samples for her young audience to illustrate the effects of the exercise—a noticeable increase in the oxygen-carrying red blood cells in the bloodstream.

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  The teens are also filled in on a controversial issue in sports today by Professor Kenneth McKeever, who discusses the center’s research into performance altering substances and their detection, a critical subject for the integrity of the horse industry.

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  After the treadmill experiment, the 4-H students are introduced to another unusual Equine Science Center program: the Young Horse Teaching and Research Program, now in its 11th year. Each year, Rutgers professor Sarah Ralston finds approximately 10 young horses that are at risk of not finding homes and transports them to campus.

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  The 4-H’ers watch as Professor Ralston demonstrates some of the techniques for handling this year’s group of young horses.

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  Approximately 30 lucky undergrads take responsibility for the care and training of the weanlings from September to April on the George H. Cook Campus. It’s a great opportunity for the students, many of whom have had no prior experience with large animal care.

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  The students also gain experience in behavior and nutrition research, collecting data from their young charges.

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  The results of the students’ training efforts are evident at the Ag Field Day horse show, part of Rutgers Day in late April each year. The horses are auctioned the following day to good homes where they will develop into competitive sport or pleasure horses.

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  The 4-H’ers say goodbye to their new-found friends who have also introduced them to some fascinating science!