EAST LANSING, Mich. – Each day that Brian Nielsen goes to work is another day he feeds his addiction, an addiction that has been 25 years in the making and one that grows a little more every day.
Conducting horse research is not only a job for Nielsen, it’s a passion he says will never die.
“I simply could not picture my life without horses,” said Nielsen, an equine exercise physiologist at Michigan State University (MSU). “It gives me a sense of fulfillment.”
His tenure with the university has been committed to researching ways for improving the quality of life for horses. Nielsen provides niche expertise for the state’s equine industry, a $1 billion industry in Michigan.
“It is so fulfilling to discover new ways for treating lameness problems or finding out that feeding a different nutrient can improve an animal’s health and performance – it’s all about the horse and helping horse owners and trainers learn how to take care of these animals to the best of their ability,” he said.
Horses can best be described as animal athletes. Similar to human athletes, horses are susceptible to a myriad of performance injuries, including lameness, which can impede an animal’s racing career. Nielsen studies ways to strengthen the animal’s muscle, tendon and bone structures to reduce the potential for injury.
Throughout his career, Nielsen has conducted numerous research projects focused on measuring the effects exercise has on horses. In three separate case studies, he discovered that when horses run from 50 to 80 yards a day, their bone mass increases. With a greater bone mass, they will be able to perform better in horse races, Nielsen said.
“If an animal isn’t performing any high speed work, their bones become weak,” he said. “And with weak bone structure, horses aren’t able to successfully perform in races”
Nielsen said this could also pose a risk to the horse rider— if a horse breaks down in a high-speed race, the rider is likely to fall and endure serious injuries.
Nielsen’s research findings that correlate exercise with bone mass in horses could possibly be used one day to help develop treatment scenarios for humans with similar bone structure problems.
Though much of Nielsen’s time is dedicated to research projects, he also teaches undergraduate animal science courses in horse physiology and horse management.
He said he enjoys working with students and introducing them to the many employment and recreational opportunities available in the horse industry.
“Seeing the students become excited about learning new things is really enjoyable,” Nielsen said. “The equine industry is a great industry, and I’m so fortunate to be able to share it with students.”
Nielsen isn’t shy about engaging students in research projects. One class tested ways to pacify, or calm, irritable or restless horses by adding mineral substances to their feed and assessing the animals’ reactions to sudden movements. It was discovered that the animals who consumed the added minerals appeared to be calmer and less apprehensive to unexpected noises or movements than did those who didn’t.
“Horses need to be calm because some horses are difficult to manage” Nielsen said. “A hyper or high-strung horse is more difficult to train, and this can be potentially dangerous to both the horse and its trainer or rider.”
When Nielsen isn’t instructing students or working on research, he still devotes any spare time he has to being around horses. He owns three horses, a pony and a donkey, and he often practices the training techniques from his research by racing his horses. Nielsen’s horse, Pompandcircumstance, competed in five races in 2008—winning once but earning money in all but one of the races.
“It allows me to experiment with things that might potentially be beneficial to my research,” Nielsen said. “Racing my own horses also helps me understand the problems we need to address.”
Throughout his career, Nielsen has won several awards including the Young Animal Science Outstanding Teaching Award in 2005 from the Midwest Section of the American Society of Animal Science and the Outstanding Young Professional Award in 2001 from the Equine Science Society.
Funding for Nielsen’s equine exercise physiologist position was made possible thanks to the Animal Agriculture Initiative at MSU. The AAI was established in 1996 as part of the grass-roots-driven Revitalization of Animal Agriculture in Michigan Initiative.
Michigan’s animal agriculture research, teaching and Extension initiative housed at MSU, AAI is a partnership between MSU, livestock producers and industry organizations, and the Michigan Department of Agriculture and governed by the AAI Coalition. Its objective is to address challenges facing Michigan animal-based agriculture through research and Extension projects.
The Michigan Animal Agriculture Initiative at MSU is vital to the health of the state’s economy. A survey commissioned by the AAI in 2007 reveals that nearly $22.9 million in annual economic activity can be linked back to the initiative. AAI-funded research adds $11.5 million annually to the state’s economy, and for every state tax dollar invested in the AAI, the initiative returns $3.40 in gross state product.