University of Florida animal scientists released a new survey on April 1 aimed at gathering information from horse owners and professionals on their use of genetic tools. Horse aficionados, from industry professionals to hobbyists, are encouraged to take the survey to assist the International Horse Genome Project with setting new long-term goals.

The project includes more than 100 researchers across the globe. This survey will poll professional and hobbyist horse owners – everyone from feed store workers to horse-business owners to equine fans – to gauge how they use equine genetics tools, such as health and performance panels.

The goal of the survey is to get ideas and feedback from various sectors on how they use current genetic testing tools and what critical needs exist that they want scientists to address, said Samantha Brooks, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) associate professor of equine physiology.

“Each of these groups brings a unique perspective that we want to include when we decide what our goals are going to be for the next five to 10 years,” she said.

The survey can be completed via this website: https://ufl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bdumsGfg4sM8MT4 .

The survey was created by UF/IFAS in collaboration with scientists from the department of veterinary clinical medicine at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the department of animal science at the University of California-Davis and the department of animal and comparative biomedical sciences at the University of Arizona.