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 A Cheshire business is pioneering genetic research to help tackle serious diseases which strike horses - and drive forward earlier identification to halt their spread.
From rural Wildboarclough, former research academic Maria Leitner now heads the 190-acre Equine Research and Information Centre which offers high-tech hope for horse owners, breeders and trainers across the globe.
With start-up costs of more than a £1million she means business - and her determination has impressed grant funding bodies to aid rural enterprise.
Through the Rural Enterprise grant programme - financed by the North West Regional Development Agency and with Cheshire County Council acting as the accountable body - £90,000 of funding has so far been provided, with a further £100,000 pledged.
A former director of Liverpool University Schools of Health Science, and a keen equestrian who rode her first horse from the tender age of four, Maria now applies her scientific skills to improve the health of the animals she loves.
Current research is focused on Equine Degenerative Myeloencephalopathy - a crippling, potentially fatal horse disease.
Commonly striking the American Paso Fino breed, it can however be halted by Vitamin E if identified early enough. Poor balance is a key symptom - so the research centre is equipped with a ‘gait analysis’ arena to monitor horses by video.
Explains Maria (pictured): “It can take many years for findings from animal research to filter down to benefit horse-owners - my aim is to plug that gap to halt disease, literally at grass roots level.”
For more details call Cheshire County Council information line: 0845 11 333 11
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