HorseQuest Web Site

Auburn, June 4, 2003 --- The popularity of the horse industry has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years. Horse enthusiasts, both new and experienced need a clearinghouse of reliable information.

Extension professionals from 13 southern land-grant institutions have combined their equine knowledge and launched a comprehensive Web site, www.HorseQuest.info. The site went on-line this spring with a large database of peer-reviewed horse information.

“My fellow Extension equine specialists in the southern region and I recognized the need for a more efficient system to address client questions and requests,” said Dr. Cindy McCall, a specialist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. “We were all getting a tremendous number of phone and e-mail questions.”

McCall said the Web site gave Extension equine professionals the opportunity to join in collaborative programming that reached beyond state boundaries.

McCall said the Web site’s purpose is to provide nonbiased, research-based information that will answer common horse-related questions.

“We want Horsequest.info to be a place people can come to get answers to questions about feeding, breeding, riding, management, shelter and many other equine topics,” said Craig Wood, associate director of agricultural communications and information technology at the University of Kentucky and part of the HorseQuest slate of specialists. “Our goal is to always have the most up-to-date information available and to link clients directly with equine experts via the Web.”

Funding for Horsequest.info, which is powered by RightNow Technologies Revelation knowledge engine, was provided through a U.S. Department of Agriculture Agriculture and Telecommunications grant.

Although all information is available free of charge, users are required to log in when they first visit the site. McCall said the information is confidential and only used for statistical purposes.

“Accounts help identify where the client is from, allowing us to customize the Web site to identify that person’s respective land-grant university,” she said. “Knowing where clients are from helps the experts better answer questions and helps account for geographical differences.”

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