The fourth meeting of the Equine Clinical Studies Coordinating Committee was held at UMaine's J.F. Witter Teaching and Research Center on Friday 16th September 2016. Present were Cassie Uricchio (University of Massachusetts), Carey Williams (Rutgers University), Alfredo Sanchez (Tufts-Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine), Donna Coffin (University of Maine), Juan Romero (University of Maine), Anne Lichtenwalner (University of Maine) and Robert Causey (University of Maine). Calling in were Ken Mckeever (Rutgers University), Karyn Malinowski (Rutgers University), Carissa Wickens (University of Florida) and Amy Biddle (University of Delaware).

The meeting began with a review of the Equine Industry Needs Assessment Survey by Donna Coffin, which was presented at the National Association of Agricultural Extension Agents meeting in Little Rock, Arkansas. In addition, the conference grant submission (Making Clinical Sense of the Equine Microbiome) was reviewed. A final decision on the grant is to be expected in February.

The discussion then moved to the primary goal of the meeting, further development of an equine microbiome multistate proposal. The draft proposal was prepared in advance by Amy Biddle, and placed on Google Drive for review. 

The need for this work was based on the growing recognition of the microbiome's role in all aspects of human and animal health. The horse is an agriculturally important animal, with over 1.2 million horses in the North East and Mid-Atlantic states. Our needs assessment survey had shown the importance of gastrointestinal issues for horse owners. However, there appears to be a lack of information on usage of nutritional supplements and probiotics
.
The work would have the following impacts:

1. Establishment of evidence based best feeding practices focusing on improving nutrient access for specific equine populations.

2. Development of evidence based best management practices focusing on improving gut health for specific equine populations.

3. Deeper understanding of challenging gut health issues leading to targeted therapeutics.

After extensive discussion the following objectives were drafted for the proposal:

1. To understand the mechanisms of the equine gut microbiome in nutrient utilization, in order to improve nutritional performance of targeted populations of horses.  

2. To identify management practices that foster improved equine gut health.

3. To determine the effect of supplements, probiotics and prebiotics on the equine microbiome

4. To characterize interactions associated with growth, health and disease states, enabling deeper understanding of the horse-microbiome conversation, and leading to the development of targeted therapeutics.

5. To characterize anatomical features of the micorbiome in the skin, uterus, gut, mucus, etc.

6. To determine the effects of the microbiome on the environment. 
 
7. To determine the roll of the animal microbiome on human health due to companion and farm animal contact.

8. To develop a means of determining the knowledge of equine farmers/owners on the equine microbiome and the need for additional outreach programs. 

The details of the methods would be developed through follow up meetings by conference call. A follow up call to determine the continuance of this committee will take place towards the end of 2016.