Equine researcher

Tamzin Furtado on turning skills learned in human health research to her dream job in the equine world

- Eleanor Jones

At 30, I had a mid-life crisis – an early one! I was the classic horsey teenager, who loved the idea of working with horses but wasn’t creative about knowing what was out there, and my parents said, “You need a proper job”, with horses as a hobby.

So I did a normal person’s degree, and ended up working in human health research. I had a great job, and loved it. But I wished I was working with horses. So I spent my Christmas bonus on degrees, in equine science and advanced animal behaviour, and when I was 30, said, “I’ve either got to change this year or stop moaning.”

I looked at animal-related research and because I had skills from human health, and the animal stuff, I qualified for a PhD at Liverpool University. I started working on that, to do with horses, and it was like a dream come true.

I haven’t looked back.

Liverpool was looking for someone to research equine obesity and I had the skills from human research; it was a gift. I had a fat Welsh cob, so I had the experience too! That finished in 2019, the year we did the Weigh to Win body condition showing awards, which went really well.