Horses
In this blog, you get to see a lot of good research going on and learn about our travels across the country. But behind all this fun is the hard work that takes place in front of a computer, in meetings and through group efforts that plan and organize our path. Last week, our Purina Horse Business Group met in St. Louis to set our 3 year plan. For two days we sequestered ourselves in the Moonrise Hotel, shut off our cell phones (OK only some of us did that) and set our action plan. We reviewed our current R&D lineup, talked about the future, and discussed challenges to horses, horse owners and the business itself. The equine industry is different than it was even just 2 years ago and its important that we are all paying attention and determining our next steps. With this knowledge, we can better set our research priorities. Our indepth projects literally take years to go from concept, through R&D and finally to a product so it is imperative that we plan, plan, plan and made good choices in what we are developing. In the room we had 4 equine nutrition PhDs, 1 equine DVM, our horse research manager, our process research manager and 6 marketing folks that cover everything from business leadership to ads, to websites, to sponsorhip to new product offerings, to sales displays, etc. Of all these brainiacs in the meeting, we collectively own 28 horses! So it's not all business and numbers and new products; we all have a passion for horses and for creating products that make a difference in the health of the horse and the lives of the people who own them. For this group, its not just about Purina, its personal.
- Happy New Year, Happy New Barn!
Happy New Year everyone! You may have noticed that we didn’t have a lot of blog posts directly from the Purina Animal Nutrition Center the second half of 2013, and that is because our palatability barn looked like this: Our team was really...
- Feed Fit For A King - Purina And The Budweiser Clydesdales
Ok, I admit it. Even after a year of working with the Budweiser Clydesdales, I am still the worst stereotype of a horse-crazy tourist—taking pictures with my phone of the horses, the dogs, the wagons, me with the horses, and the dogs, and the...
- The Challenge Of Spring
Most of us associate the challenges of spring on a horse farm/ranch with all of the seasonal changes that take place. The challenges many of us face can include; getting foals on the ground safely, getting mares bred back for the foal crop...
- Is It Really You??
Year end work at the farm is typically pretty crazy. There are a lot of loose ends to tie up with paperwork, and on top of the paperwork we have a bunch of horses to take care of. This time of year in our part of the country is kind of tough on the horses...
- Big Fun And "big Ideas In The Big Easy"
I love to attend veterinary conferences. I always have – from the very start of my career as an equine practitioner, through my university faculty years and now as a technical services veterinarian in industry. Sure… attending conferences is...
Horses
Behind the scenes....looking intense
- Happy New Year, Happy New Barn!
Happy New Year everyone! You may have noticed that we didn’t have a lot of blog posts directly from the Purina Animal Nutrition Center the second half of 2013, and that is because our palatability barn looked like this: Our team was really...
- Feed Fit For A King - Purina And The Budweiser Clydesdales
Ok, I admit it. Even after a year of working with the Budweiser Clydesdales, I am still the worst stereotype of a horse-crazy tourist—taking pictures with my phone of the horses, the dogs, the wagons, me with the horses, and the dogs, and the...
- The Challenge Of Spring
Most of us associate the challenges of spring on a horse farm/ranch with all of the seasonal changes that take place. The challenges many of us face can include; getting foals on the ground safely, getting mares bred back for the foal crop...
- Is It Really You??
Year end work at the farm is typically pretty crazy. There are a lot of loose ends to tie up with paperwork, and on top of the paperwork we have a bunch of horses to take care of. This time of year in our part of the country is kind of tough on the horses...
- Big Fun And "big Ideas In The Big Easy"
I love to attend veterinary conferences. I always have – from the very start of my career as an equine practitioner, through my university faculty years and now as a technical services veterinarian in industry. Sure… attending conferences is...