The Guardian Interviews Peterson About Track Conditions to Lower Injury Rates
Mick Peterson, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Maine, was interviewed by The Guardian for an article about the U.S. horse racing industry looking at track conditions to lower horse injury and fatality rates. Peterson spoke about his research on the correlation between racetrack surfaces and racehorse injuries and his work introducing science and uniformity into racetrack maintenance to help reduce the variability of a racing surface. “The consistency of the racetrack changes from day to day as well as around the track,” Peterson said. “You can hear all sorts of controversy surrounding the biomechanics of horses, about different types of surfaces, about horses adapting to different surfaces, but I’ve never found anyone who could argue that horses aren’t looking for a consistent or even surface.”