Published October, 2014

Name: Ashley Fowler

From: Napa, California

Degrees and institute where received:

BS, animal science, University of California, Davis
MS, animal science, University of Kentucky (UK) 

Ashley Fowler chose to pursue her master’s at UK and study under Laurie Lawrence, PhD, professor in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences, because she said she felt UK is one of the best places in the world to study equine nutrition.

Fowler’s main research focus involves investigating what affects horses' phosphorus excretion.

She said phosphorus has gained increased attention in the agricultural community because of its environmental impacts. Rock phosphate is a nonrenewable, limited resource that is commonly added to animal feeds due to its high availability to the animal.

“We are trying to better understand how horses absorb and utilize phosphorus so that we can more precisely determine their requirements and better formulate diets,” Fowler said. “It is predicted that we will run out of this resource within the next 200 years.”

In addition, phosphorus in fields can run off into waterways, killing fish and causing algae blooms. Understanding phosphorus' availability to horses could potentially minimize excess phosphate supplementation as well as reduce excretion into the environment, she said.

“Concurrently, I am working on developing an in vitro method to estimate phosphorus availability from a variety of feedstuffs," Fowler said. "I am also interested in how phosphorus content changes in pasture grass throughout the growing season and if these changes could affect phosphorus availability to grazing animals."

Fowler is keeping her options open in planning for work after graduation. She would like to pursue a career in the equine industry, academia, or potentially do private equine nutrition consulting.

Shaila Sigssgard is an editorial assistant for the Bluegrass Equine Digest.