An opportunity for Higher Education students to gain a full 360-degree experience of disseminating their research to the wider academic community.
The 15th Alltech-Hartpury Student Conference took place on the 13th of May 2026 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 over 60 student abstracts were submitted for consideration, culminating in 12 theatre presentations, 4 speed presentations, and well over 25 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 students was 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 Lorna Cameron, was opened by a fascinating presentation by Associate Professor Jennifer Burbage from the University of Portsmouth, entitled ‘Fit to Ride: Understanding Breast Health and Bra Function for Equestrian Athletes’. The morning’s keynote was followed by presentations from students from University Centre Sparsholt, Nottingham Trent University, Hartpury University and Liverpool John Moore University. Among the topics covered, were presentations on air quality in equine arenas, the impact of broodmare age on their progeny's Official Rating, and the effects of clavicle injury on muscle activity in work riders and jockeys.
The afternoon session, chaired by Associate Professor Jenny Burbage, was kicked off by a thought-provoking keynote presentation from Dr Richard newton from the Equine Institute for Disease Surveillance on ‘Equine Infectious Disease Surveillance: From stable to state: can we all do better in infectious disease control?‘. The University of Nottingham kicked off the postgraduate oral presentation session followed by oral presentations from Hartpury University and Anglia Ruskin University with topics presented from the PhD and masters work including ‘Monitoring normal equine behaviours using artificial intelligence’. The final undergraduate oral presentations were delivered by students from Hartpury University and the University of Nottingham.
Hartpury University and the University of Nottingham rounded up the undergraduate oral presentations with a range of applied topics including Mitigating the strangles vaccine effect on recumbency times in stabled horses with phenylbutazone. The day was rounded off by an engaging, entertaining and inspiring closing keynote presentation delivered by Dee So’oialo, Hartpury alumni and owner and founder of the globally recognised enterprises, The performance Hub and EQ Bands.
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 Elizabeth Clark from Hartpury University for her undergraduate presentation entitled ‘Influence of Protective Boot Material on Post-Exercise Limb Temperature Recovery in Horses; A Pilot Thermographic Investigation’, and to Nicola Harrison from the University of Nottingham for her postgraduate presentation entitled ‘Monitoring normal equine behaviours using artificial intelligence’.
The prize for the top posters went to Nottingham Trent University’s undergraduate student Rebekah Arthey for her poster entitled ‘Investigation into Event Rider Perception of Ground Conditions and its Effect on the Studs Used for Cross-Country’, and to Hartpury University postgraduate student, Kate Johnstone, for her poster entitled ‘Exploration and Analysis of Embedding Equitation Science into Curriculum’. The prize for our first ever speed poster presentation went to University of Nottingham’s PhD student Martyna Iruretagoyena for her presentation entitled ‘Validating the use of a computer vision model to detect equine sleep-related behaviors in an academic setting’.
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 16th Alltech-Hartpury Conference on Saturday the 22nd of May 2027!
To join our mailing list and stay informed of progress in advance of the 2027 Conference, please email alltech@hartpury.ac.uk
