Released October 12, 2009
BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Jyme Peterson has won a "trunkful" of prizes for goat tying and breakaway roping, but the assistant rodeo coach at Montana State University is now winning honors for her research.
At two major conferences this year, the master's degree student won awards for manuscripts and oral presentations on the effects of psyllium. Psyllium is a water soluble plant that acts as a laxative in horses. When given to people with Type II diabetes, it increased insulin sensitivity, lowered blood glucose levels and caused a reduction in body weight. Peterson thought psyllium might have the same effect on horses, but her research showed differently.
"I'm just really proud of her. She has worked really, really hard," said Shannon Moreaux, assistant professor of equine science and Peterson's adviser.
Peterson is his first graduate student, and her success at the conferences caused others to visit or express interest in MSU, Moreaux said. He added that, "Jyme accomplished these achievements through tremendous efforts from many faculty in the College of Agriculture."
Peterson presented her findings at the international Equine Science Society conference in May and the American Society of Animal Science Western Section conference in June. Although pleased that she won third place at both conferences, Peterson said her work wasn't finished. She started conducting a followup study this summer and hoped to finish her analysis this fall.
In the meantime, she continued to manage the MSU rodeo office, coach women on the MSU rodeo team and conduct rodeo clinics around Montana. Her college rodeo eligibility ended in 2006, but she continues to compete in the Northern Rodeo Association and also trains roping, goat tying and barrel racing horses.
Mike True, head rodeo coach at MSU, said if it hadn't been for Peterson's injuries (three reconstructive knee surgeries), she undoubtedly would have been a national rodeo champion. Peterson was the Nebraska state goat tying champion three years in a row. In her last competition for MSU, she won the breakaway roping and all-around contests. She received the first Shane Drury Scholarship given by the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association.
Peterson is "one of the most outstanding young people you will ever meet," True said.
Once she earns her master's degree, Peterson said she plans to pursue a doctorate degree, possibly at Oklahoma State University. She wants to continue research in the equine field, either in exercise physiology or nutrition.
"I'm really intrigued by the nutrition side of the equine industry," Peterson said. "People feed horses like they feed cattle, but it shouldn't really be like that. Horses have a digestive system that's different from cattle."
In her award-winning research at MSU, Peterson said that psyllium prevents and offers relief to horses with sand colic. Horses, especially those that live in dry lot pens, often ingest sand and dirt which become trapped in the large colon.
Curious to see if psyllium affected horses the same way as it did humans with Type II diabetes, especially since obesity and insulin resistance are major concerns in the equine industry, Peterson conducted a 42-day experiment on eight MSU quarter horses in 2008. She gave the horses 12 days to adapt to a limited ration of hay and grain. Then she added psyllium and fed each horse 90 grams per day, split into twice-daily feedings. On the 42nd day, Peterson collected blood every 30 minutes for 6 1/2 hours. After analyzing the results, she was surprised by the outcome.
"It's not like we were hoping," Peterson said.
Instead of losing weight, the horses on psyllium gained weight and their neck circumferences increased, Peterson said. Insulin concentrations took longer to peak and peaked higher in psyllium-supplemented horses than control horses.
In her follow-up study, Peterson used 16 MSU horses and a wider range of dosages. She divided the horses into four groups, then fed the control group no psyllium and the other groups 90, 180 or 270 grams of psyllium a day. She drew blood in August to look at insulin, glucose, cortisol, leptin, adiponectin and ghrelin.
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http://www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=7612
Editor: Evelyn Boswell, (406) 994-5135 or evelynb@montana.edu
