Favorite Video: Equine Digestion Animation from Purina; Have You Checked YouTube Lately?

If you follow this blog, you know that I keep a sharp eye out on YouTube for new videos to share with blog readers. December was a red letter month for YouTube when two American companies--Purina Mills and Life Data Labs--launched dedicated video channels to share clips, commercials, product tips, and some valuable information that will be of interest to all horse owners.

Life Data's channel features competitive driver Chester Weber talking about his horses, as well as Scottish researcher Dr. Susan Kempson explaining hoof wall deterioration as seen through a scanning electron microscope, and horse trainer Rick Wheat demonstrating safe horse handling. Best of all, you can hear Dr. Frank Gravlee describe in his own words how his work as an equine veterinarian led to the development of the popular Farriers Formula supplement, the flagship of the Life Data Labs company's products, and to the growth of the company's lovely research farm.

Click here to view the new Life Data YouTube channel.

Purina's channel, with video extracted from its Omolene University web site, knocks itself out with an elaborate animation of the digestion process in horses, with special attention to the roles of glucose and insulin. They have gone to great lengths to create this animation of the digestion process in the various stages of the upper and hind guts in horses.

The narrator speaks quite briskly so you may have to stop and start this video to absorb all the information she offers over the course of the eight-minute clip.

Also on the Purina channel, you can hear nutritionist Dr. Mary Beth Gordon describe the feed classifications and high standards of Purina's equine feed program, take a video tour of the feed mill, and get a glimpse of Purina's video advertising.

Click here to view the new Purina YouTube channel.

Both of these companies are making constructive use of YouTube resources to post video content that goes beyond just commercials to sell their products. With a subject as complex as equine nutrition, education is not an option--it's a necessity. We need to be kept up to date on new research from the impressive labs that these companies run if we are to understand how and when and why to choose from all the products available to our horses.

Thanks, Life Data Labs and Purina Mills!