The British Horse Council (BHC) has issued a new manifesto as a timely reminder to parliamentary candidates of why the British horse sector matters for the 2019 election. The British Horse Council is the collective voice of the equine sector and the manifesto reminds candidates that the the horse world is the second largest rural employer (after agriculture), being worth £8bn to the UK economy. Collectively it has the potential for 4.4m votes; 1.3m of voters ride regularly and 3.1m would like to ride again. The manifesto distils a number of high priorities into focused calls for Government support. From promoting riding, improving equine health and welfare and facilitating the growth of the industry, to recognising the needs for skilled labour and easy movement of high health horses under any future arrangements with Europe, the equine sector has been clear in its ask. David Mountford, chair of the British Horse Council said: “Our manifesto is a punchy summary of the areas that are of vital imp ...

"An extremely thought provoking course with copious academic material to reinforce good training practice." This was was just one of the many positive comments received from delegates following the inaugural BEVA Elite Performance Horse Discussion Forum, which took place at Rossdales Equine Hospital on 22nd November. This new course, the first of its kind, brought together international experts from the fields of sports physiology and training, in both human and equine elite sport. The course was fully booked well in advance and saw experienced and enthusiastic equine vets attend from throughout the UK. Throughout the day, leading researchers, practitioners, trainers and competitors openly discussed the challenges encountered in training elite equine and human athletes, and how lessons learned in both fields may help progress our understanding and achieve safer and more successful methods of training. In the morning sessions, Dr Ulrich Hartmann (Head of the Institute of Sports and Exercise S ...

For those importing semen, embryos or horses, this update from Defra is to explain changes to the use of TRACES to pre-notify shipments of animals and products of animal origin (POAO) into the UK. "As a result of the incoming smarter rules for safer food (SRSF) regulations, which are designed to improve our biosecurity, TRACES will be decommissioned and switched off on 14 December 2019. A new pre-notification system will replace TRACES from 14th December 2019, and further information on that replacement system will be sent to you next week.  We want to ensure you are ready and able to use the new notification system as soon as possible, so we would like to invite you to webinar where we will demonstrate the new system. Please go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/83951801097 to register for the training session. This is a Europe-wide change, so while we appreciate changing the notification system is difficult, we want to do all we can  to help smooth this t ...

New marketing authorisations     Marketing Authorisations issued/published in October 2019     Product Name Active ingredient Authorisation Holder Public Assessment Report to be made available from VMD? Doxycare Flavour 40 mg tablets for cats and dogs Doxycycline Ecuphar NV No – RMS Ireland Doxycare Flavour 200 mg tablets for cats and dogs Doxycycline Ecuphar NV ...

As you may already be aware, from 14 December 2019, new European regulations - Smarter Rules for Safer Food (SRSF) - will be introduced. Collectively these will replace 70 existing European directives and regulations to modernise and improve health and safety standards for the agri-food chain.   SRSF introduces two new regulations from 14 December 2019: Official Controls Regulation (OCR) and Plant Health Regulation (PHR). A third, Animal Health Regulation (AHR), applies on 21 April 2021. For the moment it is the OCR which concerns your business.   The new regulations will apply to the UK whilst we are a member of the EU and during any transition period. Even if we leave the EU without a deal, the regulations will be retained by the Withdrawal Act and will continue to apply subject to any amendments Parliament may agree. You are receiving this communication now as we have been waiting for confirmation concerning the new SRSF systems and guidance.   What will be changing from 14 December 2 ...

The following products were seized by a VMD inspector during a routine inspection of a veterinary practice:

• 7 x 100 tablet packs of Sucrabest 1g

Sucrabest 1g is a non-UK authorised human product. This product can only be administered under Schedule 4 (Administration of a veterinary medicinal product outside the terms of a marketing authorisation) of the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 (VMR) by vets who hold a valid Special Import Certificate (SIC). No such certificate was held by this practice.

The possession of these products is an offence under regulation 26 (Possession of an unauthorised veterinary medicinal product) of the VMR

Rosie Olley, Taja Vajs and Graham Duncanson travelled to Kiev, Ukraine in October to speak at the annual 3 day Equine Veterinary Seminar covering topics of internal medicine, orthopedics, dentistry and general practice. 

Leg Up coach Fiona Georgetti tells us about her Leg Up journey so far and what it's really like to be a coach. "When I saw the BEVA appeal for ‘Leg Up’ or career coaching 12 months ago, I can’t say I knew exactly what it was, but I saw that it was the brain child of past BEVA President Renate Waller, so I  knew that it was bound to be entertaining, and I saw that it was designed to help new graduates in the first stages of their career.  In my job, I find that I enjoy helping out recent graduates where I can, and find it rewarding seeing their confidence grow.  I saw this training as a chance to be able to better support graduates within our own practice, as well as being a rare opportunity to learn a completely new skill and hopefully help other people.     I tentatively applied for the Coaching Course. I mistakenly thought that all Coaches had to be high flying career vets to be Career Coaches, and I don’t have a different Certificate for everyday of ...

In a first for the profession, 15 of the major UK member organisations, vet schools and policy-making bodies have today come together to affirm their commitment to veterinary medicine based on sound scientific principles, in a new landmark publication produced by RCVS Knowledge and the charity Sense about Science. Evidence-Based Veterinary Medicine Matters: Our Commitment to the Future represents the first time this broad and influential group have formally united in support of a single issue. This unprecedented collaboration is testament to the importance that veterinary organisations across the profession place on the use of evidence to enhance all types of veterinary medicine. The publication serves to demonstrate the profound and wide-ranging impact that evidence can have – and has had – on animal health and welfare. It also provides a convincing rationale for all veterinary professionals to contribute to the evidence base and put evidence into practice, to the benefit of animals, owners ...

1. Introduction   Following temporary changes to the Equine Influenza vaccination requirements earlier this year, we indicated that we would be consulting on changes to the permanent EI vaccination rule prior to the end of 2019.   This notice is to advise that this consultation will now take place in 2020.  Until this consultation is complete, the current vaccination requirements for all horses on racecourse property will remain in place.    The current temporary requirements will remain in place for the duration of 2020.   This follows  a meeting of the European Horseracing Scientific Liaison Committee (EHSLC) in early October, where proposed changes were agreed by the Committee after considering advice from a number of experts in equine infectious disease. Other European racing jurisdictions will be carrying out similar consultations in 2020, with the aim of achieving harmonised vaccination requirements for racehorses across Europe.   With that in mind,  ...