Annette C. Longland is an independent consultant with her own company, Equine and Livestock Nutrition Services (ELNS). She received her BSc (Hons) from the University of Stirling and her PhD and DIC from the Imperial College of Science and Technology at the University of London.

Longland was born and spent most of her childhood in Glasgow, Scotland, with weekends and school holidays largely spent riding. After secondary school she went to Stirling University to study Biology.

Longland then spent two years in the Caribbean (1978-1980) teaching O-level science and A-level biology, followed by some months traveling in Central and South America. After this, she studied for her PhD in London, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Hull.

In the autumn of 1984 Longland moved to the Agriculture and Grasslands Research Institute (AGRI) at Shinfield, Berkshire, where she worked on various aspects of pig nutrition. In 1991 she moved to Wales to work at the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research (IGER). Here her research interest was focused on forage in relation to both livestock and equine nutrition. In 2004 she left IGER to set up Equine and Livestock Nutrition Services (ELNS). Much of the work at ELNS is related to forage and equine nutrition. 

Longland lives on a small holding in West Wales with her husband, five horses, a cat, a dog, and chickens. She has four grown-up children, two of whom ride and compete their horses. Longland previously competed at 2* level Endurance. However, since retiring her Arabian horses, she now enjoys show jumping, eventing, and low-level endurance competitions with her Connemara mare. She also volunteers for a charitable grazing conservation project in the Welsh hills. Additionally, Longland loves to ski, scuba dive, and travel.

Longland’s Recent Research

Moore-Colyer M, Annette Longland, Patricia Harris, Leo Zeef, Susan Crosthwaite. Mapping the bacterial ecology on the phyllosphere of dry and post soaked grass hay for horses. Plos One. Jan 27, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227151 J Equine Vet Sci

Longland, AC, Barfoot C, Harris PA. Strip-grazing: Reduces pony dry matter intakes and changes in bodyweight and morphometrics. Equine Vet J. 2021; 00: 1– 8. https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.13416

Cameron A, Harris PA, Longland A, Horseman S, Hockenhull J. UK Horse Carers’ Experiences of Restricting Grazing When Aiming to Prevent Health Issues in Their Horses. J Equine Vet Science 2021: (104) 103685

Cameron A, Longland AC, Pfau T, et al. The Effect of Strip Grazing on Physical Activity and Behavior in Ponies. J Equine Vet Science 2022: (110) 103745

Longland, AC, Barfoot, C, Harris, PA. Strip grazing: Changes in biomass, nutrient content and digestibility of temperate, midsummer pasture by strip-grazed or ‘free’-grazing ponies, over 4 weeks. J Equine Vet Science 2023: (131) p.104957.

Further Reading

Tips on Soaking Hay for Horses. Dr. Annette Longland. MySeniorHorse.com