Past Programs and Events
EquiPhysics began at the University of Arizona Al-Marah Equine Center, where we developed interdisciplinary research, educational programs, workshops, and public events connecting horses, mathematics, engineering, and equine science. This archive preserves some of the programs that helped shape our work.
Al-Marah Farewell Evening
May 2026 · Al-Marah Equine Center, Tucson, Arizona
On a spring evening we gathered with students, researchers, community partners, and horse enthusiasts to celebrate the Al-Marah Equine Center and the community that made our work there possible. Our student researchers shared videos of horses listening to music alongside their heart-rate measurements, Wendy Davis told the story of Mrs. Bazy Tankersley and the Al-Marah Arabians, and community speakers Nancy Skocy, Celeste Kelly, and Sarah AlShamekh reflected on the many ways horses enrich education and wellbeing. We are deeply grateful to everyone who cared for the horses and welcomed us during our years at Al-Marah. The next chapter has already begun: our horses and our research now have a new home at Rancho del Nido in Sonoita.
UA VIP/CURE Spring Poster Session
April 2026 · Student Union, University of Arizona, Tucson
At the University of Arizona’s spring VIP/CURE Poster Session, undergraduate researchers from our Horse Science & Innovation Lab presented their poster, “Effects of Music on Equine Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability.” Over the semester the students played classical, rock, opera, and other music for eight horses at the Al-Marah Equine Center, recording each heartbeat with gentle chest-strap monitors while the horses simply stood and listened. On average, the horses stayed just as relaxed with music as in silence — and every horse had its own distinct response, a reminder that each animal deserves to be understood as an individual. We could not be prouder of these students and the care they brought to every session.
Horses in Motion
March–April 2026 · Al-Marah Equine Center, Tucson, Arizona
For six Thursday afternoons this spring, we welcomed adult learners to the Al-Marah Equine Center for Horses in Motion, a University of Arizona Humanities Seminars Program course taught by Laura Miller. Each week paired history with science: the ancient partnership between horses and humans, the story of the Al-Marah Arabians at the University of Arizona, how selective breeding shaped draft horses and thoroughbreds, and the mathematics of the walk, trot, canter, and gallop. Between lectures, participants headed to the arena for live demonstrations, watching how high-speed video and small noninvasive wearable sensors reveal each gait. First planned for 2025 and postponed to protect the horses’ health, the course was worth the wait.
Horse–Human Partnerships and Human-Agent Teams Meeting
January 2026 · Tucson, Arizona
This interdisciplinary meeting brought together researchers, practitioners, students, and horse professionals to examine horse–human partnerships, physiology, movement science, and human-agent teams.
A Gathering with Susan Fay (postponed)
November 2025 · Al-Marah Equine Center, Tucson, Arizona
We had planned to welcome author, educator, and horsewoman Susan Fay for a public program on how human breathing and attention may influence both horse and rider. Out of caution during a regional EHV-1 outbreak, the public gathering was postponed to protect the horses; Susan instead worked privately with individual horse-and-rider pairs. We hope to welcome her for the full program in the future.
