The highly-rated annual Equine Veterinary Conference will take place from Friday, October 11th to Sunday, October 13th in Killarney.
The venue for this strongly supported conference is the Gleneagle Hotel and INEC Killarney and this year the Veterinary Ireland National Equine Conference will join the Veterinary Ireland National Large Animal and National Companion Animal groups.
The venue for the practical/Wet Labs is Holmoak Stables near Tralee.
With a top line-up of speakers and topics this very strongly supported conference promises to be second to none and one not be missed by either experienced or intending equine practitioners.
Demonstration
Ned O'Flynn will give a demonstration on the 5 Stage Veterinary Soundness Examination, followed by detailed discussion on the common problems and issues that can arise and how to avoid them. Ned, a well known equine soundness vet has vast experience both nationally and internationally in this area having already vetted over 20,000 horses for soundness.
At the conclusion of this session a questionnaire with 42 questions on soundness vetting will be distributed to the attendees and the subsequent afternoon session at the INEC will include a presentation and discussion from Ned on the answers to the questions.
Dr Tim Brazil, a guest speaker from Britain, will join Ned in this session. Tim,a senior equine veterinary adviser with the Veterinary Defence Society (VDS), is an expert on the pitfalls and insurance claims and litigation in vetting horses and how to avoid them.
The VDS insures all vets in Ireland and Britain, insurance being a mandatory requirement for all vets in practice in both countries.
Tim will speak on the controversial issues of a vets liabilities where a horse has positive drug results post-racing or competition.
One of Tim’s presentations during the conference is on the 10 most common claims against vets in equine practice that have been encountered by his company.
Fethard Equine
For the second wetlab session Fernando Garcia of the Fethard Equine Hospital will give a practical demonstration on diagnosis of lameness, for the vet working under field conditions.
The demonstration will also include nerve blocks used in lameness diagnosis.
Fernando is the main vet dealing with equine lameness at Fethard Equine hospital and has vast experience in this field.
Michael Sadlier joins these highly experienced line up of speakers to present on the impact of major infrastructural projects and alternative energy projects including solar farms, electricity pylons, wind turbines, et cetera, on equine welfare. This very topical area is a "must know" for all vets in equine practice.
Michael’s second presentation is on a practical approach to diagnosis and treatment of common conditions in foals .
Siobhan McAuliffe will present on the all too common problem in horses – the "coughing horse".
The conference will also include presentations from Sarah Ross of the Irish Equine Centre and Ann Derham from Fethard Equine Hospital, on equine colic cases.
The conference also includes a vibrant programme of social events on Friday night and a gala dinner on Saturday night.
With attending vets receiving a generous 16.5 CVE points, it promises to be a very worthwhile and practical conference not to be missed.