Bugs, bones and vitamin D – A pilot project

Bone health is critical for the success of racehorses and the prevention of catastrophic bone fractures is a racing industry imperative. Surprisingly, very little is known about the role of vitamin D and gut bacteria in supporting the development of healthy bones in young racehorses. This pilot project is designed to develop our ability to measure vitamin D and associated metabolites in the blood of horses and to establish methods for measuring bone strength. Methods developed in this pilot project will be applied to a large-scale, longitudinal study of bugs, bones and vitamin D in foals bred for racing.

Funder

Research groups and centres

Our research is supported by research groups and centres of excellence.

Horse Microbiome Research Group

Bioinformatics Core Facility