The 14th Alltech-Hartpury Student Conference took place on the 7th of May 2025 at Hartpury University, Gloucestershire. This annual conference is aimed at Higher Education students, providing an opportunity to experience writing and submitting an abstract, going through the review and revisions process, through to delivering a theatre presentation to a conference audience, or producing a scientific poster. Scientific conferences can often be a daunting experience; however, the Alltech-Hartpury Student Conference allows students to present to students, their supervisors and a small group of industry experts. It was once again great to welcome delegates back to our beautiful campus for a day of networking and inspiration.  

The aim of the Alltech-Hartpury Student Conference is to act as an introduction to research dissemination in a safe, friendly conference environment. Just under 70 student abstracts were submitted for consideration, culminating in 10 theatre presentations and well over 40 poster presentations. On the day a vast range of topics were covered including, but not limited to, behaviour and welfare, rider performance, therapy and rehabilitation and the equestrian Social Licence to Operate. The standard of presentations from the students impressive across both the undergraduate and postgraduate sections, with the quality getting higher year on year. Throughout the course of the day, delegates were entertained and inspired by engaging discussion from both the student presenters and the keynote speakers with whom students were able to network over the two poster sessions. 

The morning session, chaired by Dr Linda Greening, was opened by an engaging presentation by Associate Professor Simon Daniels from the Royal Agricultural University, entitled ‘The horses gut microbiome: An exploration from “analogue to digital” considering tools to help us understand gut health in horses’. The morning’s keynote was followed by presentations from students from University Centre Sparsholt, Oxford Brooks University, Hartpury University and the Royal Agricultural University. Among the topics covered, were presentations on ‘Performance of Thoroughbred Stallions in India’, An analysis of the faults and clears occurred at different double combinations during showjumping competitions and ‘The Effect of Processed Feed Types on Equine Masticatory Kinematics and Bite and Chew Rate’.   

The afternoon session, chaired by Associate Professor Simon Daniels, was kicked off by a fascinating keynote presentation from Dr Linda Greening from Hartpury University on her research on ‘Sleep hygiene for horses: What is the equine equivalent to counting sheep?’. South East Technical University kicked off with the postgraduate oral presentation session followed by oral presentations from Sheffield Hallam University, the University of Edinburgh, Hartpury University and the University of Nottingham. Topics from the PhD and masters work being presented included ‘Navigating Menopause as an equestrian: The effect of symptomatology on human-animal interaction’ and ‘Burnout: That’s what life’s about, isn’t it? A mixed-methods exploration of the burnout experiences of dual career equestrian athletes’. The day was rounded off by an engaging, entertaining and inspiring closing keynote presentation delivered by Gillian Higgins, owner and founder of Horses Inside Out on ‘Horses Inside Out: The journey so far… 

Prizes for best student theatre and poster presentations were judged by the keynote speakers and representatives of Alltech®; the Conference sponsor. Awarded at the close of the Conference by Dr Helen Warren from Alltech, the prize for the best theatre presentations went to Charlotte Hurst from the Royal Agricultural University for her undergraduate presentation entitled ‘Effects of a shim intended to relieve pressure under the girth straps on equine kinematics’, and to Martyna Iruretagoyena Jankowska from the University of Nottingham for her postgraduate presentation entitled ‘Continuous monitoring of sleep behaviors in the stabled horse with AI computer vision’. The prize for the top posters went to University Centre Askham Bryan undergraduate student Sian Beeley for her poster entitled ‘How do reproductive success rates in Arabian mares associate with various physiological metrics, a longitudinal study’ and to South East Technological University student, Georgia Tobin, for her poster entitled ‘A Stable Minds: An Investigation into the Mental Health and Risk Factors among Trainers and Stable Staff in Thoroughbred Horse Racing’. 

Both Alltech® and Hartpury University would like to offer their sincere thanks to all involved, especially the expert keynote speakers and the review team for their efforts in making this, once again, a very successful event.  We look forward to welcoming you back for the 15th Alltech-Hartpury Conference on the 13th of May 2026!