(April 9, 2009 Stillwater, OK) – The Oklahoma State University’s (OSU) Center for Veterinary Health Science’s Boren Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital has partnered with a sports flooring company. Dynamic Sports Construction, Inc., in Leander, Texas, developed a prototype floor for the center’s equine surgery recovery room and one test barn stall. The floor is ready for its first test—to withstand the weight of a horse.

Since he began serving as the director of the veterinary center’s Boren Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, Dr. Mark Neer has been challenged with determining the best type of floor for the Large Animal Clinic’s equine surgery recovery floor and the equine outpatient stalls.

“Equine clinicians across the country have had a longstanding debate regarding what is the optimal floor surface for an equine patient,” says Neer. “It’s amazing how many veterinary schools and equine practices have different types of floors. I started looking for alternatives to what is currently being used. A poured design with a force reduction layer is ideal since there are no seams and it provides a much easier way to sanitize the floor due to the lack of seams. The product simply bonds to the underlying concrete. This is the type of floor that Dynamic Sports has engineered.”

Neer came across Dynamic Sports Construction, Inc., which specializes in such products as basketball courts, gymnasium floors, tennis courts, and track surfaces by simply searching the Internet. After a few conversations later with the company president, Bob Wolesensky, the company agreed to do a prototype floor that they could test in Stillwater.

“At no cost to OSU, Dynamic Sports graciously installed a new floor in our equine surgery recovery room and one in an equine outpatient stall,” says Neer. “The floor in the surgery recovery room is a little thicker and therefore, provides more cushion than the floor in the outpatient room.”

Installing the floors took four to five days. Each floor is poured in one section and comes in OSU orange, much to the delight of the OSU veterinarians on faculty.

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“The base material has the consistency of pancake batter,” smiles Neer. “The more you pour in, the thicker and ‘more cushiony’ the floor will be. They poured some in, let it dry and cure and then poured some more in. Then a very tough polyurethane top coat, about ¼ inch thick, is applied. In addition, the texture of the surface can be customized to meet the needs of the room or stall.

“If the floor can withstand the weight of the horses and the wear and tear of their hooves, Dynamic Sports hopefully will have a product they can market nationwide,” says Neer. “And we’ll be looking for funds to refinish all the concrete floors in the equine hospital as well as the food animal section of our Large Animal Clinic.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to try this new product, and one we believe will prove successful over time,” continues Neer. “We thank Dynamic Sports Corporation, President Bob Wolesensky, and foreman Chuck Stowe, for partnering with us on this project and for their gracious offer and attitude. By them installing the floor in both the equine surgery recovery room and the equine outpatient stall, at no cost to OSU in exchange for our input into the system, allowed us to save significant dollars.”

The OSU Boren Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital welcomes private donations to assist in funding installation of this flooring in its remaining equine stalls. To make a donation, please contact the OSU Development Office at (405) 744-5630.

The Oklahoma State University Center for Veterinary Health Sciences is one of 28 veterinary colleges in the United States and is fully accredited by the Council on Education of the American Veterinary Medical Association. The Center’s Boren Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital is open to the public and provides routine and specialized care for small and large animals. It also offers 24-hour emergency care and is certified by the American Animal Hospital Association. For more information, visit www.cvhs.okstate.edu or call (405) 744-7000.

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