From 2020 to 2022, we were asked to believe the science. So the first question is this – What is science? Can it be fair? Can it be absolute? How is it measured? How do you distinguish between “good” and “bad” science?

Over 1 million scientific papers are published yearly, all done with the best intentions. However, they are all written by humans, and we all have flaws. Is a measurement accurate? Did we measure the right thing? Was the math applied to the data correctly, and does it accurately present it in significant ways?

One of my veterinary education tenets at Cornell was thoroughly examining published research papers and determining if I could learn something from them or if they raised more questions than answered. In the horse research world, the adage holds – follow the money. But unfortunately, most horse research is underfunded, biased, underpowered and simply wrong. This month’s Rounds delves into whether we can trust the horse science – or not.

Members can watch replays of “Rounds With Doc T” and get more details in the Forums and the AMAs, and can add comments anywhere (discover membership here).

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