Equestrianism’s social licence to operate is inextricably linked to equine veterinary practice. The opening day of BEVA Congress (11-14 September 2024, at the ACC in Liverpool) will devote an entire stream to this subject, exploring some of the similarities between equine and human sporting injuries and how their incidence might be reduced.
“A huge part of equine practice stems from the involvement of horses in competition, said BEVA President Elect Bruce Bladon, “whether the animals under our care take part in the local pony club’s mounted games, are on display in the showing classes at the County show, or are competing at the Olympics, equine veterinary practice would be unlikely to survive without horse sport.
“However, the future of equine sport, including horseracing, is under debate; competition often increases the risk of injury, and, at one end of the spectrum, it inevitably also increases the risk of fatal injury.
“This is an area where veterinary science and research can help; demonstrably reducing the risk and/or severity of injury during competition is likely to be an important factor in retaining the social licence of equestrianism into the future.”
The stream at BEVA Congress will include the following highlights:
• Efforts being made in Australia to identify and stand down horses at risk of injury in the big Spring Carnival. (Prof Chris Whitton The Australian experience of preventing injury in high profile races during the session Which horses are at risk? At 8:30am hall3a).
• A human surgeon’s perspective on working with young athletes with stress fractures (Bill Ribbons The detection of stress fractures in the young human athlete - Imaging the risk session 1:40pm hall 3a).
• One of the most outstanding human athletes the UK has ever seen, on her experience of injury (Sally Gunnell - Was it worth it? as part of the Is intervention the answer? session on Thursday afternoon at 3:10 Hall 1a).
This year Congress is celebrating the theme of ‘one medicine’ to showcase the importance of knowledge sharing between human and equine medicine. The opening address will be given by Olympic gold medallist Sally Gunnell, who will be sharing her thoughts on maximising performance. In total there will be 90+ hours of live and on-demand CPD at Congress, covering virtually every aspect of equine medicine, surgery and practice.
The full BEVA Congress programme is live
BEVA members prices for Congress for all three days are £597 for vets (with concessionary prices available for those in their first three years of graduation or earning less than £25,000) and £221 for nurse members for all three days). Day tickets and practice passes are also available.
Tickets provide access to all lectures, practicals, the exhibition hall, as well as full access to the virtual Congress hub, where delegates will have access to Congress content for six months after the event.
Find out more and to book your tickets to BEVA Congress