In the past two decades, huge advances have been made in our understanding of many equine diseases, but we have a lot more to learn before we can truly improve the way many of these diseases are prevented or treated. One simply needs to consider the impact that laminitis had on Barbaro, a horse who captured everyone’s imagination, or the effect that equine herpesvirus-1 infections have had up and down the East Coast in the past few months. While these diseases might be the most glaringly obvious at this time, they are not necessarily the most devastating to horses or the equine industry. Colic, osteoarthritis, neonatal septicemia, infertility, respiratory disease, laryngeal hemiplegia...the list of diseases needing attention goes on and on.
How are we going to address these diseases that threaten the health of our horses and the viability of the equine industry? How are we going to deal with new diseases and conditions as they arise? What are we going to do when diseases we thought were conquered suddenly reappear? More importantly, who is going to find the answers and solve these riddles?
Members of the Equine Research Coordination Group (ERCG) are making equine research funding a priority for future equine research. To advance this effort, the ERCG has developed an informative paper on the challenges of solving the equine research puzzle and the need for increased research funding.
The paper “Ensuring a Bright Future for Equine Research” can be viewed at www.aaep.org/equine_research_co_group.htm and is available for reprint. To learn more about equine research funding opportunities or current research, contact Anne Dadds, AAEP Research Coordinator, at [email protected] or (859) 233-0147, ext. 221, or Keith Kleine, AAEP Director of Industry Relations, at (859) 233-0147, ext. 220, or [email protected].
The mission of the Equine Research Coordination Group (ERCG) is to advance the health and welfare of horses by promoting the discovery and sharing of new knowledge, enhancing awareness of the need for targeted research, educating the public, expanding fundraising opportunities, and facilitating cooperation among funding agencies.
The ERCG is a group comprised of researchers and organizations that support equine research. Participants in the ERCG include equine foundations and multiple university research representatives. Current participants include: AAEP Foundation, American Horse Council, American Quarter Horse Association Foundation, Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center, Morris Animal Foundation, Havemeyer Foundation, and the United States Equestrian Federation Foundation, along with University researchers, including: Noah Cohen, VMD (Texas A & M University), Greg Ferraro, DVM (University of California–Davis), Eleanor Green, DVM (University of Florida), Dick Mansmann, VMD (North Carolina State University), Wayne McIlwraith, BVSc (Colorado State University), Jim Moore, DVM (University of Georgia), and Rustin Moore, DVM (The Ohio State University). For more information about the ERCG, please visit www.aaepfoundation.org and click on the ERCG link.
~~~