Dr. Tula, DVM

11/12/2026

Proper conditioning isn’t about doing more. It’s about knowing what to ask of your horse.

How hard? How long? How often?

A conditioning program should be both safe and effective. Safe means measuring how your horse adapts to the work, not simply checking off a workout. Effective means understanding how to adjust the intensity, duration, and frequency to support that adaptation.

The same workout every day isn’t a conditioning strategy. And there is no single prescription that works for every horse.

Proper conditioning is not a mystery. There are principles you can follow, measurements you can use, and informed decisions you can make along the way.

Want to make your horse’s conditioning program safe and effective? DM to learn the principles and take control of your horse’s performance.

- Dr. Tula, DVM

11/10/2026

Big news: my research was selected for the 72nd AAEP Annual Convention.

The AAEP (American Association of Equine Practitioners) convention is where equine veterinarians meet every year to share new knowledge. This December, in Las Vegas, I’ll be presenting my research there.

Why does this matter for your horse? Because science only helps horses when it reaches the barn.

Everything I do starts with one question: how can we translate scientific knowledge into practical tools that improve the health and performance of horses in the real world?

Over the next weeks, I’ll share the ideas behind this work in a way you can use with your own horse. The findings belong to the presentation, so those will come later.

💬 What question would you like a veterinary researcher to answer about your horse’s health? Tell me in the comments.

Before the injury.
Dr. Tula

HorseCare

11/04/2026

Many injuries start while your horse still looks normal.

How can we help prevent an injury before it happens? That question has guided my 17 years of work.

As vets, we are trained to act when something goes wrong. Much less of our training is about how to keep it from going wrong in the first place.

It starts with something you can do at the barn: knowing what “normal” looks like for your horse, so you can notice when it changes.

Over the next weeks I’ll be sharing more about this, and some news I’m excited about. Follow along.

Before the injury.

Dr. Tula

PreventiveMedicine

10/27/2026

Reputation is earned, not claimed. It shows in consistent work and in the willingness to keep improving.

As LARC TEST enters its 9th year, I want to thank everyone who has worked with me to build it. Every piece of feedback, including the critical kind, is part of how a scientific tool gets better.

17 years in this work have taught me that growth takes the courage to make big changes, and the persistence to keep going when stopping would be easier.

This December I'll be presenting my research at the 72nd AAEP Annual Convention in Las Vegas. I'm looking forward to connecting with colleagues and partners who share the same goal: moving equine medicine from treating injuries to understanding the athlete before an injury occurs.

Thank you all, and see you in Las Vegas.
Dr. Cecilia Tula

10/12/2026

09/22/2026

For 17 years, I thought I was building a tool to help us understand what was happening inside the horse.

Today, I understand it was something bigger.
It was a way to listen to what the horse cannot tell us—and to start detecting problems before they become symptoms, injuries, or limitations to their career.

That is where preventive medicine for the horse athlete begins.

Not with waiting for something to go wrong.�With understanding the athlete, measuring what we cannot see, and using that information to make better decisions.

And I believe veterinarians have an important role in building this new approach. 🐎
It’s time to protect the horse athlete—not just treat the patient.

If you’re a veterinarian interested in this approach, I’d love to hear from you.

09/02/2026

Your horse is an athlete.

So protecting him shouldn’t start when something hurts.

It starts with understanding what his sport demands from his body and preparing him to handle those demands.

That means building fitness progressively, managing workload, allowing recovery, and paying attention to the things that can change long before an injury forces you to stop.

Because the goal of sports medicine shouldn’t be to keep putting out fires.

It should be to help keep the athlete healthy enough to keep doing what he loves.🐎

Your horse is an athlete. Let’s learn how to protect him.

08/13/2026

The future of an equine athlete starts long before they ever step into competition.

I was honored to be part of The Breeding Game 2026, an event bringing together horse breeders, owners, veterinarians, trainers, and equine professionals to talk about the decisions that shape a horse’s future.

From breeding and reproductive management to nutrition, early development, training, and performance, the conversations were a reminder that building a successful athlete is a long-term process.

Thank you to The Breeding Game team, Tarleton State University, the speakers, sponsors, and everyone who spent their day learning and asking important questions about how we can do better for the horse.

I especially loved being part of a conversation that looks beyond getting a horse to the starting line and asks a bigger question:

How do we build an athlete that is prepared, sound, and capable of a long career?

That’s where equine sports medicine and preventive care belong. Not just when there is a problem, but throughout the development of the athlete.

Thank you for having me. 🐴

Estephanie Zermeno Equilume

08/11/2026

One of the biggest misconceptions in equine performance is believing that protecting your horse means avoiding intensity.

It doesn’t.

A horse that is never prepared for the demands of competition isn’t necessarily being protected.

Conditioning should prepare your horse for the specific demands of the job while helping reduce injury risk through progressive adaptation.

The question is:

How do you know if your horse is adapting?

That’s where objective measurements matter.

With LARC TEST, you can measure post-exercise recovery through heart rate, respiratory rate, and lactate, giving you the information you need to adjust your conditioning program based on your horse’s physiological response instead of guesswork.

Protecting the equine athlete isn’t about avoiding intensity.

It’s about measuring adaptation so you can progress safely.

Know someone who’s working to improve performance while keeping their horse sound? Share this post with them. 💪

LARC TEST USA

07/30/2026

Register here: https://equilume.com/us/thebreedinggame/

I’m honored to be speaking at “The Breeding Game” this Saturday.

My session, “Building A Sound Athlete,” is about something I believe every performance horse deserves.

Too often, we wait until a horse gets injured before we intervene. But sports medicine should start long before that.

Building a sound athlete means understanding conditioning, measuring adaptation, and making decisions that protect both performance and longevity.

“The Breeding Game” brings together horse owners, breeders, veterinarians, trainers, and equine professionals for a one-day educational symposium focused on making smarter decisions — from breeding to performance.

If you’re passionate about advancing equine health and performance through science, I’d love to have you join us.

📍 Stephenville, TX
💻 Livestream available worldwide

Hope to see you there!