Posted: 23rd May 2019 | Back to news feed
The ninth Alltech-Hartpury Equine Student Conference took place at Hartpury University, Gloucester, with around 100 delegates attending, representing more than fifteen colleges and universities from the UK and Europe.
Aimed at higher education students, the annual conference provides students with experience of writing and submitting an abstract, going through the review and revisions process, through to delivering a theatre presentation to a full conference audience or producing a scientific poster to present.
With an audience of predominantly other students and just a handful of industry experts and supervisors, the conference is designed to be an informal introduction to delivering a presentation.
Throughout the day 10 theatre presentations and 35 posters were presented, covering a vast range of topics and the delegates were inspired by keynote speakers who also gave the students a chance to network during breaks in the proceedings.
Alltech’s European Technical Manager, Dr Helen Warren, chaired the morning session that was opened with a dynamic and thought-provoking presentation by Russell Guire, founder of Centaur Biomechanics, on ‘The Effect that Saddle Fit has on Thoracolumbar Kinematics’.
The morning’s keynote presentation was followed by presentations by students from Hartpury University, Bishop Burton College, Hadlow College, Myerscough College and the Royal Agricultural University. Topics presented included ‘Lack of Variation in the Myostatin (MSTN) Gene Indicates Additional Genes Contribute to Endurance Racing Performance in Mongolian Horses’ and ‘A Comparison of Gender Equality Between Age Group and Competition Level Within British Eventing’.
Russell Guire chaired the afternoon session with oral presentations from Myerscough College, Writtle University Centre and University Centre Reaseheath.
The postgraduate section concluded the student oral section with a presentation from the University of Primorska, Slovenia on ‘Analysis of Muscle Modes of Novice and Professional Horseback Riders at Walk, Trot and Canter’, and from Hartpury University entitled ‘Can the Use of Baseline Filter Reduce Interference and Clarify Interface Pressure Data Collected for Horse Rider Combinations?’
Dr Sebastian McBride from Aberystwyth University rounded off the day with an entertaining and inspiring talk entitled ‘Probing the Horse’s Mind; Using Cognitive Tests to Assess Normal and Abnormal Behaviour’.
Posters on a range of topics including over-rugging and the nutritional knowledge of affiliated show-jumping riders were displayed throughout the day.
Prizes for the best student theatre and poster presentations were judged by the keynote speakers and representatives of Alltech, who kindly sponsored the conference and provided the prizes.
The best theatre presentation went to Victoria Leabeater from Hartpury University, for her talk on ‘A Study to Determine the Effect of Fatigue on the Rider's Decision-Making When Riding the Cross-Country Phase of FEI 2* Level Competition.’
Writtle University College student, Rosemary Lawrence, was awarded the prize for top poster for her study entitled ‘The Effects of Dynamic Mobilisation Exercises on the Biomechanics of the Ridden Horse’.
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For further information please visit www.lifeforcehorse.co.uk or telephone 01780 764512.
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