EQUINE MEDICAL RESEARCH FUND
The USEA put a key program in place to benefit all horses when it started the Equine Medical Research Fund in 2014. Since that time, every horse and rider who start a USEA event pay $1.00 assessment towards Equine Medical Research. The Fund also receives direct donations from individuals who support this cause.
Equine medical research is woefully underfunded in the United States and around the world. Because horses are not food animals, they are ineligible for USDA funding. Because their population is small compared to dogs and cats (8 million vs. 164 million), drug companies rarely invest in equine research. To help bridge this gap, the USEA created the Equine Medical Research Fund.
Since its founding, the has raised funds and donated to more than 100 studies focused on health issues for sport horses and for general horse health. In order to keep administrative tasks to a minimum and because we are a sports organization not research specialists, the USEA has partnered with the Morris Animal Foundation and the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation to help us distribute and monitor these funds. Both those organizations have decades of experience in reviewing, selecting and monitoring grant applications from universities and other research institutions from around the world. They have teams of veterinarians who spent thousands of volunteer hours assessing which studies are most likely to impact horse welfare. A committee from the USEA determines specifically which studies our dollars go towards and our Board reviews those selections, allowing us to maintain control of where our funds go. The Equine Medical Research Committee has been devoted to distributing money each year to sport horse research, but also has made a commitment to funding research on general health care to benefit all horses. Since 2014, the USEA has directed more than $400,000 into equine medical research.
Examples of studies we have funded:
Improving Cell Therapies to Repair Articular Cartilage Damage
Equine Herpesvirus Infection of Horses: Identification of Cellular Biomarkers and Adhesion Molecules
Understanding Risk Factors for Transport Associated Colic in Horses
Predicting Exercise Arrhythmias with Resting ECGs
Studying Post-operative Ileus Associated with Colic
Quantifying the Role of Neuromuscular Control in the etiology and clinical signs of equine lameness
Non-Invasive Evaluation of Host-Microbiota Interactions
Enhancing the efficacy of MSC's for tendon healing
The equine ethogram and cardiac telemetry for assessment of discomfort behaviors with epidural analgesia
Investigation of a fecal marker for equine gastric disease
Treatment of Meniscal Injury with Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Investigation of the Immunopathogenesis of Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM)
An exploration of the nature of separation related problems in the horse