In 2009 the AAEP Foundation conducted a survey to assess the thoughts and opinions of the membership in defining and prioritizing the needs for equine health research. This followed an initial survey in 2003 to establish the needs for equine research and gather the necessary data to accomplish this portion of the mission. The 2009 survey was to see how the needs perceived by our members had changed.

Funding for answering important equine health questions is always in short supply, and a key element of the AAEP Foundation’s mission is to act as coordinator of equine research and serve the industry by defining the greatest needs in the realm of equine health throughout the United States and around the world.

In total, 572 members finished surveys (88% in the United States, 6% in Canada, and 6% in other countries). When asked to rank the most pressing equine health care problems they faced and wish they had answers for by body system, members ranked the musculoskeletal system the highest from the choices they received (85%), followed by gastrointestinal (82%), respiratory (74%), endocrine (67%), and nervous (62%).

Specific conditions cited most commonly by AAEP members as needing research were laminitis (63%), colic (52%), arthritis (49%), tendon injuries (44%), navicular disease (36%), racing injuries (34%), suspensory ligament injuries (32%), foot problems (31%), OCD (osteochondritis dissecans, 28%), rhinopneumonitis (herpesvirus, 26%), recurrent lower airway disease (24%), and foal pneumonia (23%)