Mares bred in Pennsylvania rises
A piece was reported on the Blood Horse website on October 26th, indicating that a recent report by the Jockey Club indicates that Pennsylvania is the only state to show an increase in the number of mares bred and foals born in 2009. It is exciting to see the equine industry in Pennsylvania growing, but remember everything is relative…In 2009 there were 19,059 mares bred in Kentucky and 1,603 in Pennsylvania.
An important question is how horse owners and professionals can best care for these animals. Here is where the research being conducted at Penn State, as well as other institutions like the University of Pennsylvania is so important. In the Department of Dairy & Animal Science at Penn State we have faculty that are experts in the areas of nutrition and reproduction. Much of my own research focuses on how we can feed the broodmare and young growing foal for optimal development and health. Supporting this research is important not only for the new information it generates, but also because there are many students helping conduct the research. They are learning the skills that will enable them to be the future equine professionals leading Pennsylvania’s equine industry forward.
The Penn State Equine Research Team is a great example of just such a student organization that conducts research studying current issues in the industry. As an example, some of our students are interested in studying methods that might be used to detect heat or estrus in broodmares…more on that later!