Dr. Hilary Clayton is one of those multi-talented individuals: rider, vet, author, researcher, and clinician Dr Clayton  is known internationally for her ongoing contribution to the understanding of equine biomechanics particularly relating to performance and conditioning. Dr. Clayton’s targeted studies in bitting, saddle fit biometrics, kinematics and kinetics, and locomotion have provided valuable insight into the mechanics of equine sports, the interaction between rider and horse, and the effects of various rehabilitation techniques.

Dr. Clayton has served as the Mary Anne McPhail Dressage Chair in Equine Sports Medicine at Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine since July, 1997. She grew up in England, graduated as a veterinarian from Glasgow University and has worked in veterinary colleges in the UK, The Netherlands, Canada and the US. Dr. Clayton is an MSU faculty member in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences and holds academic appointments in the Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture and the Department of Materials Science and Mechanics in the College of Engineering. She is a past president of the Association for Equine Sports Medicine and is vice president of the American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation. She has been inducted into the International Equine Veterinarians Hall of Fame, the Saskatoon sports Hall of Fame and the Midwest Dressage Association Hall of Fame.

Her current post as Dressage Chair at MSU is unique in the world. The Mary Anne McPhail Equine Performance Center is a state-of-the art equine sports and lameness facility where Dr. Clayton conducts her research and teaches classes.  Since the center opened in the year 2000, incredible progress has been made culminating in world-renowned research to benefit performance and soundness of equine athletes. While the purpose of the performance center is specifically to research all aspects of the relationship between veterinary medicine and dressage performance, with special emphasis on the prevention and treatment of lameness, certainly the work they are doing there benefits all horses and humans seeking success in elite sport.

A lifelong rider, Dr. Clayton competed extensively in eventing, show jumping and dressage.   Active in the sport of dressage, Dr. Clayton is a United States Dressage Federation (USDF) Bronze, Silver and Gold Medalist, and is a certified equestrian coach in the UK and Canada.  She has been a member of the Canadian National Coaching Committees for the sports of dressage, jumping, and eventing, and is currently a member of the USEF Dressage Committee.

By the way, Hilary competed successfully in Grand Prix Dressage on an MSU-bred Arabian horse MSU MAGIC J+, and is currently competing with MSU FANFARE+ at third level,   both of whom have never been shod! Her farrier is Cappi Roghan, who applies the barefoot trim recommended by hoof anatomy expert and colleague, Robert Bowker, DVM, which has been the topic of one of her research studies.