Research Committee Chair: Margaret Brosnahan, DVM, PhD email Dr. Brosnaham

Purpose: The Research Grants Committee was founded to solicit research projects that will contribute to the welfare of the horse and benefit the general membership of AERC. Once projects are identified as qualifying then they will be presented to the Board of Directors for final approval.

Submit a Proposal: If you have a proposal that you wish to submit for consideration then contact the committee chair or any of the current members.

Research Donations: If you wish to donate to the AERC Research fund, you can use this quick donation form or phone the AERC office, 866-271-2372. Donate $5 or more and you will receive an oval bumper sticker (6″ x 4″) for your car, truck or trailer:

100 Mile Study, updated in the June 2014 issue of Endurance News. If you are interested in participating, feel free to read the Study Info Page and then print out and answer the 14-page 100 Mile Study Questionnaire. After filling out the form, please mail to Dr. Olin Balch (mailing address on last page of questionnaire. Thank you for your assistance!

T.M.Hess, DVM, MS, PhD Pratt Fellow in Equine Nutrition, Virginia Tech will be exploring Do risks of potassium supplementation depend on speed and trail difficulty? This study will be done, using on board data acquisition, under conditions replicating actual competition.

2019 Tevis Dehydration Study by Principal Investigator Jerry Gillespie, DVM, PhD, was completed and published in Endurance News in 2020. Click to read the Preliminary results (pdf) and Dehydration and other factors affecting performance at the 2019 Tevis (pdf). Thanks to Dr. Gillespie and all those who participated in this study.

Research Measures the Heart of the Endurance Horse – a final report on research into “comparison of echocardiographic measurements in elite and non-elite Arabian endurance horses” by Mary Durando, DVM, PhD, DACVIM; Margaret M. Sleeper, VMD, DACIM, and Todd Holbrook, DVM, DACVIM, M. Payton and EK Birks. Published in the October 2013 issue of Endurance News.

Is heart rate variability an effective measure of equine fitness, overtraining, or metabolic derangements? by Mary Durando, DVM, PhD, DACVIM; Margaret M. Sleeper, VMD, DACIM, and Todd Holbrook, DVM, DACVIM (pdf).

Are horses responsible for introducing noxious weeds onto trails and adjacent ecosystems in the western USA? by Dr. Stith T. Gower (pdf)

Are Horses Responsible for Invasive Plants in the Eastern United States? by Dr. Stith T. Gower (pdf)

Why Do Endurance Horses Fail to Finish: A Pilot Study by Harold Schott, DVM, PhD and John Kaneene, DVM, MPH, PhD (pdf)

Can Successful Endurance Performance Be Predicted by Physiology? by Mary Durando, DVM, PhD