Properly preparing racetrack surfaces is imperative for horse and jockey safety. It requires selecting the right materials, monitoring moisture content, watching the weather, and finely tuned maintenance from a highly trained crew. In this Equine Innovators podcast, we talk to Mick Peterson, PhD, director of the University of Kentucky’s Racetrack Safety Program. As a bioengineer, he and his team studies how horses interact with track surfaces to help improve safety and performance. They also monitor tracks throughout the United States.

This podcast is the fourth episode in our “Equine Innovators” podcast series, brought to you by Zoetis.

Michael “Mick” Peterson, PhD, is a professor of biosystems and agricultural engineering at the University of Kentucky, where he serves as directory of the Racetrack Safety Program. His research focuses on animal biomechanics engineering, specifically racehorses and racetrack surfaces.