2017 British Equine Veterinary Association Congress features “BEVA Farriery Day” and equine lameness programs

The British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) Congress is only six weeks away, and the time has come to make plans to attend this world-class event. Touting itself as "organized by horse vets for horse vets", the BEVA Congress is Europe’s largest equine veterinary conference. This year it will be held at Liverpool Arena Convention Centre from 13-16 September.  The Hoof Blog has dissected the schedule to pull out interesting speakers and topics of interest to veterinarians and farriers.

Speaking of farriers, this year the BEVA Congress is hosting a full day of farriery speakers, moderated by Professor Renate Weller of the Royal Veterinary College, on Saturday, September 16. Farriers may attend the one-day session at a special rate, but the rate ends on August 4.

The schedule for BEVA Farriery Day: 

Anatomy and biomechanics of the foot |  Jean-Marie Denoix 

How do nerve blocks help in the management of foot pain? | Michael Schramme Radiography of the foot – how does it help farriery management? | Renate Weller MRI of the foot – how does it help farriery management? | Tim Mair

How does arena surface modify distal limb biomechanics in sport horses? |  Nathalie Crevier-Denoix 

How to read the hoof capsule | Grant Moon Farriery of the foal | Simon Curtis 

The natural balance approach | David Nicholls 
Kinesitherapic shoes | Jean-Marie Denoix 
Managing the Thoroughbred foot | Declan Cronin 
Keeping the dressage horse sound | Haydn Price 
Guidelines for trimming and shoeing the sport horse | Grant Moon 

Farriery panel and case discussions on The Barefoot Revolution--Fad, Fiction and Facts with panelists Renate Weller, Michael Schramme, David Nicholls, Simon Curtis, Haydn Price, Grant Moon, Declan Cronin and Jonathan Anderson

Here's a message from Professor Weller about the farriery event:

Early registration rates close on August 4, 2017, however direct online registration is not available for those registering for the Farriery Day only. The form can be filled out and emailed to Verity at BEVA.

Click here to download the registration form with the full schedule, rates, and details.

Click here for full BEVA Congress information.

The BEVA Congress has a wide-ranging program of events; in addition to the packed multi-track lecture schedule, the Congress hosts a large trade show of equine veterinary products and some innovative specialty topics are covered in depth, such as an afternoon session on equine "end of life" decision making.  The pros and cons of incorporating a veterinary practice will be debated.

In addition to the farriery day, there is also a dentistry day and a nursing day. Derek Knottenbelt will present the 2017 John Hickman Memorial Plenary Lecture; his topic: Using the past to make the future better. Tom Divers of Cornell University is one of the US veterinarians who will be speaking at Liverpool.

This video offers some reactions to the BEVA Congress from 2016 attendees:

Some lameness highlights from the main Congress lecture schedule:

Thursday Lameness Topics and Speakers from the Main Congress Schedule

Dealing with excessive granulation tissue | Yvonne Elce
Chronic progressive lymphoedema | Marianne Sloet
CAT: What is the risk that corticosteroid treatment will cause laminitis? |  Edd Knowles
Skin problems of the distal limb |  Marianne Sloet
Foot conformation and placement | Thilo Pfau
Training aids |  Russell Guire
Pelvic movement asymmetry | Thilo Pfau
Tendon properties | M. Verkade
Sole packing and impact vibrations | Amy Barstow
Wounds | Jonathan Anderson
Acute Laminitis | John Keen

Common fractures | Matthew Smith

Lymphangitis/cellulitis | David Rendle

Choice of intra-articular medications for treating joint disease | Andrew Bathe

Use of stem cells in treatment of osteoarthritis | Michael Schramme

Use of bisphosphonates in bone disease | Olivier Lepage

Complications of biologic therapies in the treatment of musculoskeletal disease | Roger Smith

CAT: Is it worth me operating on a DIRT lesion in a juvenile Thoroughbred intended for racing? | Richard Reardon

Imaging the proximal suspensory ligament | Jean-Marie Denoix

Medical treatment of proximal suspensory desmitis | Kent Allen

Surgical management of proximal suspensory desmitis | Andrew Bathe

Acupuncture in the management of equine lameness | Dietrich Von Schweinitz

CAT: What is the best treatment option for a medial femoral condylar subchondral bone cyst? | Etienne O’Brien

Diagnosis of PPID and EMS | Kelsey Hart

CAT: Does pergolide therapy prevent laminitis in horses diagnosed with PPID? | Edd Knowles

Fractures secondary to kick injuries | A. Schreier

Friday Lameness Topics and Speakers
from the Main Congress Schedule

Limb and hoof conformation: When do variations affect intended use? | Sue Dyson

PPE of horses intended for breeding. What can be done? | James Crabtree

PPE across Europe – understanding the clash of cultures | Malcolm Morley

PPE and radiology of sports horses. What is the evidence? | Werner Jahn

PPE disasters – and how to avoid them | Malcolm Morley

Resveratrol in osteoarthritis | D. Ryan 

Synovial fluid metabolomic profiles | J. Anderson
Computed tomographic contrast tenography | R. Agass

Hock conformation and PSD | J. Routh

Suture patterns for DDFT repair | L. Chapman

Catastrophic condylar fractures – MRI | J. Peloso

Nuclear scintigraphy in sports horses | L. Quiney

Facial expressions and pain | S. Dyson

EHV-2 in tendon | R. Wardle
Return to racing after SDFT injury | R. Alzola

Complications of arthroscopic surgery | Bruce Bladon

Where are we and where are we going with objective lameness evaluation? | Filipe Serra Bragança

Objective lameness evaluation in clinical practice | Michael Schramme

Why I prefer subjective evaluation of lameness | Sue Dyson

CAT: Can I give alpha-2 agonists for blocking and accurately assess the horse’s lameness once blocked? | Michael De Cozar

Pragmatic approach to multi-limb lameness | Luis Rubio-Martinez

Changing disease patterns in an aging equine population | John Marshall

Fasted insulin for EMS diagnosis | R. Olley

Effects of Karo dose on oral sugar test | N. Jocelyn

PK and PD of oral pergolide in horses with PPID | D. Rendle

When nerve and joint blocks go wrong | Bruce Bladon

CAT: Is nuclear scintigraphy helpful in the diagnosis of chronic lameness in competition horses? | Jonathon Dixon

Evaluation of flexion tests | John Marshal

Owner perceptions of equine obesity | T. Furtado

Regional anaesthesia of the distal limb | Luis Rubio Martinez
Ultrasound of the distal limb | Roger Smith

Regional anaesthesia of the distal limb | Luis Rubio Martinez 

Distal limb dissection Parts 1, 2, and 3 | Jean-Marie Denoix

Saturday Lameness Topics and Speakers
 from the Main Congress Schedule

Emerging methods using ultrasound for detection of soft tissue musculoskeletal disease | Valeria Busoni

Is MRI of the proximal metacarpal or metatarsal region worth it? | Lucy Meehan

Body condition scoring – how to do it and how to engage horse-owners | Lizzie Drury

Use and abuse of NSAIDs | John Marshall

Live Horse Ultrasound with Jean-Marie Denoix  | Sponsored by The International Society of Equine Locomotor Pathology
Basics of medication of competition horses | Andrew Bathe
Do vets need to understand the rules of competition, showing and racing? | Jonathan Pycock

Photo credit for preserved leg specimen in top graphic: Museum of Veterinary Anatomy FMVZ USP.

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Hallmarq Standing MRI Presents: Navicular Disease Diagnosis, Then and Now

We have never really understood navicular disease, but maybe we're getting closer. Two horses would have identical lameness symptoms but the radiographs were clean on one, and clearly showed a bone lesion in the other. Some horses stayed lame for years and were never ridden again. Others took a year or so off and, to everyone’s surprise, returned to training.

Laminitis Prevention: Is Current Body Condition Scoring Irrelevant for Ponies?

by Fran Jurga | 18 September 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog

A 9.2 hand, 12-year-old spotted pony named Firefly suffered from overgrown feet and laminitis in England in April 2007. She couldn't walk properly, but her owner refused to have her cared for, nor would she sign the pony over to the World Horse Welfare. A court case ensued and the owner lost her right to own horses for two years.

Here's Firefly in September 2007, on her way to full recovery and adoption to a new home. The research project funded by WHW at the University of Liverpool suggests that it is difficult to assign an objective body condition score to ponies using the system designed for larger horses.

Researchers at the department of clinical science at Britain's University of Liverpool, with support from the World Horse Welfare charity, presented new research at the annual convention of the British Equine Veterinary Association(BEVA) last week.

The question: how accurate is conventional equine body condition scoring for weight loss management when the equine being evaluated is an overweight pony?

The study, entitled Managed Weight Loss in Obese Ponies: Evaluating Weight Change, Health and Welfare, involved five mature, overweight or obese ponies and aimed to restrict their feed intake (on a dry matter basis) to 1% of body weight of a chaff-based complete diet for 12 weeks.

During this time the ponies' weight change, health parameters and behavior were monitored. All ponies remained healthy throughout the whole trial and an appropriate and safe rate of weight loss was achieved.

Clare Barfoot BSc (Hons) RNutr, registered nutritionist and the research and development manager for SPILLERS® (British horse feed company) explained: “Body weight decreased at a steady rate. However, despite significant weight loss, the body condition scores of the ponies didn't change. This highlights the concern that body condition scoring may not be the most effective way to monitor early weight loss in ponies.”

Even in this well-managed study, the feeding activity of the dieting ponies was decreased by 74 percent compared to ad libitum intake, highlighting the need for a practical feeding system that is both effective at managing weight loss but is sensitive to behavioral needs.

The WALTHAM® Equine Studies group was closely involved with this study as it has been with other groundbreaking work on equine obesity, such as showing that an obese body condition score was associated with increased insulin resistance back in 2003, and developing the cresty neck scoring system.

In response to the study, the research group is in the process of developing a new condition scoring system designed specifically for ponies. “This will involve validating the relationship between actual measurements of body fatness and the external appearance of the pony,” said Alex Dugdale, lead researcher for the study at Liverpool University.

Note: information provided by Spillers was used in the preparation of this blog post.


© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. You only need to ask. Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.