April 6th, 2013 Equine Guelph presented an exciting full day of seminars at the University of Guelph, featuring Ontario Veterinary College researchers who have starred in the popular "Report on Research" video series. Attendees for this event were able to ask the experts burning questions to find out more about the latest developments in equine research.
Horses benefitting from research
Equine Guelph's April seminar included presentations on the equine heart, heaves, hoof functions, stem cell research,colic, embryo transfer and other research advances in horse health.
The morning commenced with Dr. Dorothee Beinzle outlining the recent developments in treating heaves. This was followed by Dr. Judith Koenig providing a detailed look at how shock therapy can be used to heal wounds.
There was much more information to digest before lunch as Dr. Physick-Sheard explained new understandings about the equine heart and Dr.
Jeff Thomason brought everyone up to speed on fascinating advances in studies examining how the hoof functions.
The action packed morning ended with Dr. Thomas Koch describing the breakthroughs in stem cell research and the direction for exciting new possibilities with the launch of in vivo work this year.
The afternoon resumed with another full helping of knowledge served up by highly knowledgeable presenters. Dr. Tracey Chenier guided the audience through the procedure of embryo transfer and highlighted her challenging research working on embryo cryopreservation.
Dr. Prescott brought over 25 years of expertise to the table giving the audience a real appreciation of the dedication and passion required to track down an insidious bacterium like Rhodococus equi and develop a vaccine.
Dr. Keith Betteridge and Dr. Tony Hayes teamed up to deliver interesting insights into their research of combating infertility in mares.
Equine Guelph's own Diane Gibbard finished the day highlighting some staggering statistics from Equine Guelph's recent colic industry survey.
Of the 1,200 respondents, 85% had a personal experience with Colic. The survey also identified clear gaps in knowledge and priority areas in education and communications which Equine Guelph is responding to with their new Colic Prevention eWorkshop (next offering April 15 -28).
Attendees left the Report on Research presentations saturated with knowledge and satisfied. "Excellent topics and presentations in a format that lay people can understand! Thank you. I will definitely pursue additional workshops online by Equine Guelph at the University of Guelph." Suzanne Kay
Equine Guelph would like to extend many thanks to the Knowledge Translation and Transfer Program under the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs OMAFRA-U of G Partnership for the grant which made the "Report on Research" videos and the special presentation on April 6th possible.
To view the Report on Research videos go to Equine Guelph's You Tube playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9ACE18F9180735B1&feature=plcp
Equine Guelph is the horse owners' and care givers' Centre at the University of Guelph. It is a unique partnership dedicated to the health and well-being of horses, supported and overseen by equine industry groups. Equine Guelph is the epicentre for academia, industry and government - for the good of the equine industry as a whole.
Report by Jackie Bellamy