Dr. Lisanne Gallant performs an ultrasound during the 2017 Tevis Cup as her colleague, Dr. Hal Schott monitors the screen. Data collected is now being analyzed by the Michigan State University team. | Photo: Ron Osborn

When the 63rd Tevis Cup event kicks off at 5:15 a.m. on Saturday July 28, 156 of the top endurance horse and rider teams are slated to start the cross-country quest to cover 100 miles within 24 hours. This event has long provided a unique opportunity to conduct research on well-conditioned endurance horses working in extreme conditions, and this year is no exception.

Researchers studying this year’s Tevis field will include David Horohov, PhD veterinary science chairman and director of the University of Kentucky’s Gluck Equine Research Center, in Lexington, and Allen Page, DVM, PhD, a veterinarian and scientist at the Gluck Center. They plan to continue their research started in racehorses and look at links between exercise and inflammation in equine athletes.

“The team has developed a method where a single 3-cc blood sample can test for multiple equine inflammatory and anti-inflammatory markers, as well as multiple early injury marker candidates,” said Mike Peralez, DVM, Tevis’ head veterinarian, who also competes in endurance riding