Research equipment

Equestrian Centre

Thermography Camera
Infrared thermography (IRT) is the measurement of radiated electromagnetic energy. Electromagnetic radiation is a stream of particles with no mass called photons. Photons travel at the speed of light in a wave like pattern. The photons with the highest energy correspond to the shortest wavelengths. The wavelengths of infrared radiation are longer than visible light and in animals 40-60% of heat loss falls within this range. The infrared energy emitted from a body is directly proportional to its temperature and small changes in temperature result in substantial amounts of radiated energy that can be detected using IRT. Thermal, or infrared energy, is light that is not visible because its wavelength is too long to be detected by the human eye. Therefore, IRT is used to convert infrared energy (radiant heat) into a visible image. Specialist cameras produce images that display variation in thermal output through coloured or grey shading. Analytical software is then used to assess patterns and changes in temperature.

Initially developed for military purposes and then utilised for industrial and medical applications, Infrared Thermography is now being applied to animal science and is been used to study thermal physiology, conduct population surveys and in veterinary diagnostics.

Observer
The Observer is a software package used for the collection, analysis, and presentation of observational data. The software is used to accurately code and describe behaviour in a quantitative way. The Observer can integrate both video and physiological data from behavioural studies, combine continuous recording with time sampling, and record time automatically. Once video footage has been coded by the user, raw behavioural codes can be turned into meaningful information for export to other data management packages such as Microsoft Excel or SPSS e.g. descriptive statistics, assessment of reliability, and transition matrices. The Observer has been used as a research tool for a wide variety of behavioural research disciplines, and is cited in hundreds of scientific publications.

Research on animal behaviour is often aimed at the investigation of animal welfare. Using The Observer detailed behaviour can be manually coded and statistics automatically calculated, such as the frequency of behavioural events or the duration of behavioural states. For example, it is possible to analyse data of the position of an animal within its stable or housing, calculate parameters such as the time spent near its feeding location, and social interaction data can also be calculated and analysed. The Observer can also be used to investigate relationships between behavioural events logged and physiological data (e.g. heart rate) obtained with a separate data acquisition system.

Mobile Eye
Use of eye tracking to determine point of gaze of riders as they compete or school their horses.

Other equipment/software includes: