Dr. Hilary Clayton, BVMS, PhD, MRCVS

Hilary is the first incumbent of the Mary Anne McPhail Dressage Chair in Equine Sports Medicine at Michigan State University. Her research is directed towards understanding the mechanics of equine Performance and lameness. She is the author of several books including The Dynamic Horse, Conditioning Sport Horses, Colour Atlas of Large Animal Clinical Anatomy, and Equine Locomotion.

McPhail Dressage Chair in Equine Sports Medicine

Hilary Clayton, BVMS, PhD, MRCVS.  Dr. Clayton received her veterinary degree from Glasgow University, Scotland in 1973.  After two years in mixed veterinary practice in Scotland she returned to Glasgow University and completed a PhD.  She worked at veterinary colleges in the UK, Canada and the Netherlands before coming to MSU in 1997 as the first incumbent of the Mary Anne McPhail Dressage Chair in Equine Sports Medicine.  Her research interests are in biomechanics of locomotion and lameness and development of conditioning programs for equine athletes.

The McPhail Chair at Michigan State University's College of Veterinary Medicine was established by a donation from Mary Anne and Walter McPhail.  Their intent was to create a center for research into all aspects of the relationship between veterinary medicine and dressage performance, with special emphasis on prevention and treatment of lameness problems.  The goal of the chair is to perform scientific investigations that directly benefit the sport of dressage.

Dr. Clayton was appointed as the first incumbent of the Mary Anne McPhail Dressage Chair in Equine Sports Medicine at Michigan State University's College of Veterinary Medicine in July, 1997. A native of England, Dr. Clayton received her veterinary degree from the University of Glasgow in 1973. She spent the next two years as an associate in a mixed veterinary practice in Kilmarnock, Scotland before returning to the University of Glasgow where she earned a PhD in 1978. From 1979 through 1980, she was a visiting assistant professor in Michigan State University's Department of Anatomy. She then returned to Glasgow for two additional years.  In 1982 she accepted a position with the University of Saskatchewan in Canada where she spent 15 years as a professor of veterinary anatomy before returning to MSU to fill the McPhail Chair.     Dr. Clayton is a 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.

As a veterinarian and researcher, Dr. Clayton's studies on the biomechanics of equine gait have focused on sport horses, including dressage and jumping horses. Some recent work has included videographic studies of Olympic dressage and jumping events and kinematic and kinetic research with some of the world's top dressage riders and horses in the Netherlands.  A lifelong rider, Dr. Clayton began her equestrian career as a Pony Club member in England.  She later competed extensively in eventing, show jumping and dressage.   Active in the sport of dressage, Dr. Clayton is a 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 USDF Planning Committee.