New Thoroughbred Training Center Amplifies Facilities for Kentucky Equine Research

Kentucky Equine Research® has expanded its research facilities to include a Thoroughbred training center in Ocala, Florida, USA. The company now has three locations dedicated to equine nutrition and exercise physiology research.

The new training facility, called the Kentucky Equine Research Performance Center, will enable researchers to observe the influence of nutritional changes in active racehorses in a typical training environment.

“This new facility is a game-changer in terms of the research we can apply to the racing and high-performance sport horse industries,” said company founder and president Joe D. Pagan, Ph.D. “For example, if you want to test the palatability of a feed or supplement for racehorses, you need to offer it to race-fit fillies rather than 20-year-old retired geldings. This will enable us to more accurately test and assess nutrition in high-performance equine athletes in their typical training and management conditions.”

Kentucky Equine Research’s other facilities include the company’s original 150-acre research farm in Versailles, Kentucky, and an Ocala sport and research facility. The organization has around 40 horses engaged in research, sport, and racing. Studies typically include palatability, digestion, and exercise trials. Kentucky Equine Research applies the results of these studies to create innovative supplements, validate unique feed ingredients, and optimize partner feeds.

Kentucky Equine Research was founded in 1988 and for the past 30 years has been the world leader in equine nutrition. The company is one of the most prolific private equine nutrition and exercise physiology research organizations in the world. The quantity of published research derived from studies conducted at the research farm rivals that of leading universities. Technical staff also collaborate with scientists in academia to develop and patent products and diagnostic techniques that target specific problems in growing and performance horses.