Briony Witherow

Briony is a Senior Lecturer and Course Lead for Equine Schemes. A graduate of Aberystwyth University (2010) and the Royal Agricultural College (2011), the early part of Briony’s career was spent in the commercial sector as Senior Nutritionist at one of the UK’s major feed companies. In 2016, Briony went on to achieve Registered Nutritionist status with the Association for Nutrition (AfN). In 2019 Briony completed her Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Practice, Teaching and Learning at the University of Essex.

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Background

Briony has her own horses who she rides and drives, and is very passionate about research that has a clear and tangible practical application. Briony’s involvement with horse owners through her nutrition consultancy and own horses provide a constant reminder of the challenges horse owners face and helps to fuel her key research interests and projects. She has written for many publications including Horse & Hound and Equine Health Magazine, as well as peer-reviewed papers for UK-Vet Equine.

Briony’s research interests include equipment to extend chew time (e.g., slow feeders) and the impact of feed type and management on chew parameters in horses. Her current research projects include advancing the validation of the RumiWatch headcollar for use in horses to measure chew parameters. The hope is that these headcollars may allow us to collect greater quantities of data over longer periods, potentially more accurately than the current method, opening up the opportunity to research the longer-term impact of feeding equipment and enrichment upon health, behaviour and welfare.

Research interests

• The effectiveness of slow feeders (forage and concentrate)
• Management strategies for the good doer
• The individuality and significance of chew parameters in horses
• Chew rates across different forage and feed types and presentations
• Grazing systems and grassland management
• Sustainable practices for keeping horses related to feeding and grassland management

Areas of research supervision

• Equine and canine nutrition
• Grassland management for horses
• Sustainable practices for keeping horses
• Equine feed behaviour

Teaching

• BSc (Hons) Equine Behavioural Science
• BSc (Hons) Equine Bioveterinary Science
• BSc (Hons) Equine Performance Science
• BSc (Hons) Equine Performance and Business Management
• BSc (Hons) Equine Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
• MSc Equine Performance Science

Qualifications

• Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Practice, Teaching and Learning Qualification and subject, University of Essex
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, University of Essex
• MSc Equine Science, Royal Agricultural University
• BSc Equine and Human Sports Science, The University of Aberystwyth

Research grants, consultancy, knowledge exchange

• Lead applicant, A longitudinal study of hoof quality in the horse, Research England, KE Project with Equine Products UK Ltd. £13,150.00.
• Lead applicant, An extended validation of RumiWatch headcollars for measuring chew parameters in horses, Research England, KE Project with Dengie Crops Ltd. £16,632.00.

Selected recent publications

Witherow, B. (2022) ‘Nutritional management of equine gastric ulcers’, UK-Vet Equine, 6(3), pp. 121-130.

Witherow, B. (2022) ‘Advances in the understanding of laminitis and the role of nutrition in its management’, UK-Vet Equine, 6(1), pp. 32-39.

Witherow, B. (2021) ‘The role of nutrition and feeding in equine weight management’, UK-Vet Equine, 5(6), pp. 241-246.