December 2019/January 2020 Issue

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EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN December 2019/January 2020 Page 27 Working in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Pro- gram the Mustang Heritage Foun- dation (MHF) recently achieved remarkable highs by placing 2,623 wild horses and burros into private care through adoptions and sales. This accomplishment is a 34% increase over 2017-18. “First and foremost, I personal- ly want to thank all of our trainers, The American Horse Coun- cil invites subject matter experts from around the world to submit presentations for the AHC 2020 annual meeting in Denver, CO. A broad spectrum of session content is needed each year to offer a rich and rewarding expe- rience for all attendees. You are invited to submit presentations highlighting your organization's innovations or personal research and how they may benefit the equine industry. The meeting By Holly Wiemers When University of Ken- tucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment graduate student Staci McGill set out to learn more about the air quality of indoor horse arenas last year, she was surprised to discover there wasn’t any existing research avail- able. So she forged the way with first-of-its-kind research, melding her passion for riding with her academic research interests. In May 2018, she launched a survey about indoor arenas in partnership with UK’s College of Public Health and facility design experts within the College of Agriculture, Food and Environ- ment. The survey set out to gather information on arena design and construction, footing, mainte- nance and the arena environment. Owners, managers and riders were asked about arena construction characteristics, air quality, arena University of Kentucky Student Launches Indoor Arena Survey Mustang Heritage Foundation Places Record Number of Wild Equines fans, volunteers and staff for the dedication and commitment to supporting the mustangs. Thanks to the efforts of all these groups, I’m very pleased to report that we have achieved a new all-time record number of placements surpassing the previous record set in 2017 by 737 animals,” saidAlex Kappert, Executive Director of the Mustang Heritage Foundation. “While we are thrilled with the results, I can assure you that the entire MHF staff is already hard at work creating new and additional opportunities to get even more mustangs placed into adoptive forever homes. As an or- ganization, we have robust goals for the number of animals to be placed in FY 2019-2020 and we will need your continued support to reach, and hopefully exceed, these goals. Here’s to another phenomenal year in 2019-20.” To keep up with this momen- tum, the BLM recently awarded MHF with additional funding to continue programming into FY 19-20. The majority of the funding will go to the MHF Trainer Incentive Program (TIP), which is responsible for 93% of MHF’s ani- mal placements and is experiencing unprecedented growth. Across the United States, wild horses and bur- ros are placed into the TIP gentling program, which was created and is managed by the MHF. Equine trainers involved in this program pick-up a BLM wild horse or burro and gentle it to halter, lead, pick-up all four feet, and load and unload from a trailer. Once the animal has met the gentling requirements, the trainer then finds an adopter or pur- chaser and MHF pays the trainer an incentive of $1,000 per horse and $750 per burro. Getting these 2,623 animals placed into adoptive homes helps to preserve an American icon and a connection with our western heritage. Every animal placed also saves taxpayers an average of $50,000 over the course of an ani- mal’s life. This year’s placements alone equate to $131,150,000 in taxpayer savings. To help ensure another record year, MHF is introducing a new program to get more mus- tangs out of government holding called Hero a Mustang. Through the Hero a Mustang program, a $1000 tax-deductible donation will guarantee that a mustang will come out of holding and be gentled, trained and placed into private care. For more informa- tion and to make a donation go to mustangheritagefoundation.org/ hero-a-mustang/. The goal of the MHF is to find a home for every horse in holding. To get involved in their mission of bringing mustangs home, visit www.mustangheritagefoundation. org. footing and associated health out- comes in horses and humans. The online survey garnered more than 450 respondents and initial findings indicate that 77% of respondents are concerned about dust, moisture levels and/or the lack of air movement. “It’s mind-blowing that this hasn’t been done before,” said McGill, a graduate student in the Department of Biosystems and Ag- ricultural Engineering. “We know these issues exist, but no one has ever documented the concerns.” “This amazing team is an im- portant collaboration. Together we can positively impact horse and human health by establishing con- ditions that are health protective,” said Kimberly Tumlin, assistant professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Environ- mental Health, College of Public Health. “We know that horse-hu- man interactions have many posi- tive outcomes. This research helps define environments and potential exposures that may affect the qual- ity of these interactions.” McGill’s team is releasing some of the initial findings through an infographic [https://indd.adobe. com/view/becebf13-e471-4d1f- 9929-dc14c0def177], and expects the study to generate several areas of additional research. The facility design and use information shows trends with arena age and construction costs. An example of changing trends is lighting. The use of LEDs has increased, while the use of metal halide lights has dramatically decreased. LEDs look to be sur- passing even fluorescents in newly built arenas. The size of the arenas has shifted to greater square footages in newer arenas and, as expected, larger arenas also tend to be more expensive to build. The definition of an indoor arena varies by where respondents live and how their climate impacts East Coast Equestrian P.O. 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Primary riding disciplines, wall and win- dow configuration and footing ma- terials, like the presence of fiber, all varied by region as well. The major finding is that the arena is a complex environment. Facility design, management, footing, usage and amount of horse activity within the space all interact to affect the environment in an indoor arena. McGill said next steps include tackling the three big issues of dust, moisture and lack of air movement using a systems approach. Amulti- disciplinary team is critical to pro- viding solutions and guidance that will work for the equine industry. She is still interested in conduct- ing site visits to facilities from all breeds and disciplines as part of this research. Facilities interested in a site visit or who have questions about the research should reach out to her directly at staci.mcgill@uky. edu. Presenters Sought for AHC 2020 Conference will feature a wide range of exciting talks, discussions, and networking opportunities with experts, researchers, and up-and- coming leaders in the equine industry. Acceptance will be based on content, available space, and overall program balance. Presentations will take place on Monday, June 8 or Tuesday, June 9, 2020. Presentations may be submitted to jbroad- way@horsecouncil.org and are due no later than January 15th, 2020. Note: it is not appropriate nor permitted for presentations to focus on selling or promot- ing products or services. This includes, but is not limited to, consulting services, publications, software, internet applications, hardware, supplements, etc. Submission will be handled electronically only. Presenters need not be members of the AHC to apply.