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App developed to tackle obesity in horses
"It is incredibly how quickly a horse can change and so monitoring regularly is key" - Ms Katie Williams.

Equi-BCS can be used to monitor a horse's bodyweight and condition.

A PhD student at the University of Glasgow has developed a free app to help tackle obesity in horses.

Katie Williams, an equine nutritionist, designed the app to help horse owners monitor their horse's bodyweight and condition. Named Equi-BCS, the app allows horse owners to record and share their horse's weight data to share with professionals. 

Discussing why she developed the app, Ms Williams said: “One of the toughest challenges for any horse owner is keeping weight off their horse, and previous studies have shown that horse owners tend to underestimate their horse’s body condition score.

“To succeed, a collaborative approach is required including vets, nutritionists and farriers working together with horse owners.

“It is incredible how quickly a horse can change and so monitoring regularly, ideally every two weeks, is key. 

“Receiving a reminder will provide the prompt that many people need to ensure they take time to assess their horse and either make adjustments to the ration, or seek advice from their vet or nutritionist.”

After surveying veterinary professionals, nutritionists and horse owners, the app has been updated, and the new version of the Equi-BCS app is available to download for free from Apple's app store, or the Google Play store. 

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Applications open for MMI research grants

News Story 1
 RCVS' Mind Matters Initiative (MMI) has launched round two of its veterinary mental health research grants.

Researchers have until 11.59pm on Wednesday, 28 May 2025 to apply for a grant for research which reflects MMI's 2025 focus areas.

Only one Impact Grant was awarded last year, and so this year there are two Discovery Grants and one Impact Grants available. Each Discovery Grant is worth £5,000 and the Impact Grant is worth £15,000.

For more information or to apply, email researchgrants@rcvs.org.uk to contact the MMI team.

 

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News Shorts
Germany livestock import ban lifted

The UK government has amended its ban on the import of livestock, meat and dairy products from Germany.

Defra said the decision follows 'rigorous technical assessment' of the measures applied and the current situation. "If the situation changes, we will not hesitate to take necessary action in response to the FMD outbreaks in the European Union to protect our domestic biosecurity," it said.

The ban was implemented in January following an outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) near Berlin. Personal imports of meat, milk and dairy products will remain in place at a country level.