The Rutgers Equine Science Center launched a new innovative educational tool to its website–a virtual tour of the equine exercise physiology laboratory. The virtual tour is now accessible through the Equine Science Center’s website on the Equine Exercise Physiology Laboratory page.

The virtual tour features a photographic storyboard detailing the processes involved in successfully completing a graded exercise test (GXT) and a simulated race test (SRT), the two types of equine exercise tests conducted at the treadmill lab. The virtual tour has been divided into three categories: Preparing for an Exercise Test; Performing an Exercise Test; and Exercise Test Data Analysis. As visitors peruse the three categories, they will find pictures of various steps and stages of the test as well as descriptive text detailing each picture.

The equine exercise physiology laboratory is an extremely popular research site on the G.H. Cook Campus of Rutgers University primarily because of the treadmill. Although it provides a unique and fascinating visual, the equine treadmill is used for scientific research. By creating the online virtual tour of the lab, visitors to the Equine Science Center website get an inside look at how and why equine scientists use a treadmill, and a complete overview of the entire process.

"We had to turn people away at the laboratory door on Rutgers Day earlier this year; people were standing in line for a half hour to witness our research mare on the treadmill," said Karyn Malinowski, director of the Equine Science Center. "The treadmill always draws a big crowd as people are eager and excited to see such a majestic and powerful animal galloping full-speed. It is an exhilarating sight