CONGRESS 2011

Programme 5th European Equine Health and Nutrition Congress

The 5th European Equine Health and Nutrition Congress (5th EEHNC) will be organized in Waregem (Belgium) from April 15-16 2011. The 5th edition of the EEHNC will be celebrated with internationally recognized specialists in nutrition, exercise physiology and veterinary sciences who will discuss topics related to "Feeding the muscles". One day will be dedicated to the relationship between feed and muscle performance in healthy horses.  The second day of the program will focus on feeding the horse with muscle problems.

Download the preliminary programme of the 5th EEHNC here. The planned schedule may be changed by the organization depending on practical considerations and availability of the invited speakers.

Invited speakers

PD Dr. med. vet. Ingrid Vervuert
Ingrid Vervuert is working as a senior scientist at the Institute of Animal Nutrition, Nutrition Diseases and Dietetics, Veterinary Faculty, University of Leipzig. Her habilitation (2009) for the full professorship is named: Food properties affecting starch digestion by healthy horses as measured by glycaemic and insulinaemic responses. At this Congress, Dr. Vervuert will speak about "The glycaemic impact of feeds". Currently, her main areas of equine research are metabolic problems, intestinal disturbances, bone metabolism and mycotoxins.

Dr. Tatiana Art
Tatiana Art is associated professor at the Physiology Department of the Faculty of veterinary Medicine at the University of Liege.  She is currently in charge of the theoretical teaching for the neuro-muscular physiology, exercise physiology and sports medicine, as well as for the development of research and clinical activities in the Equine Sports Medicine Centre.  Her main fields of interest in research are (1) respiration during exercise in horses, (2) exercise physiology and training in horses and (3) mechanisms of occurrence, the prevention and the treatments of the chronic respiratory troubles in sports horses, (4) effect of exercise on non-specific immunity in horses. She is author or co-author of more than 100 scientific publications in peer-reviewed papers (35 as first author) on these subjects.

Prof. Dr. Ray Geor Ph.D MVSc
Dr. Ray Geor earned his veterinary degree from Massey University in New Zealand in 1983 and completed a large-animal internship at Murdoch University in Australia in 1984.  He then did a large-animal residency and completed an MVSc degree at Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, in 1988.  He earned a PhD from the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1999.  He is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Large Animal).  
 
Before coming to MSU, his most recent position was the Paul Mellon Distinguished Chair in Agriculture and director of the Middleburg Agricultural Research and Extension Center (MARE) at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine.  Previous to that he held faculty positions at the veterinary colleges at the University of Guelph and University of Minnesota.  He was also an equine research fellow at the OSU College of Veterinary Medicine and director of research at Kentucky Equine Research Inc.

His clinical and research interests, broadly speaking, are in equine medicine, nutrition and exercise science.  A current research focus is the interactions between obesity, inflammation and insulin resistance, and how these conditions increase susceptibility to laminitis.    

In his presentation entitled “Integrating feeding and nutrient replenishing strategies in the dietary management of performance horses” questions  like “Glycogen loading” (when) does it work and how can I incorporate this in my horse training schedule?” and “What supplements and dietary strategies may influence muscle function?” will be discussed.

Prof. Richard Ducatelle Ph.D
Prof. Richard Ducatelle is doctor in veterinary medicine graduated from Ghent University in 1978. He was appointed professor in avian medicine and animal hygiene in 1989 and in veterinary pathology in 1993. He has supervised a number of PhD theses on various aspects of poultry health. His research group is studying the pathology of bacteria – host interactions in poultry, with a special emphasis on zoonoses and on intestinal health. Molecular and cell biological tools are used next to the in vivo experimental approach. These studies are carried out with grants from regional, federal and European governments as well as grants from industry. Over the years these studies have lead to over 200 papers recorded in the web of science.

Dr. Pat Harris M.A., VetMB/MRCVS, Ph.D
Pat is responsible for the research carried out at the Equine Studies group at WALTHAM® providing the Science behind WINERGY and SPILLERS, the Director of Equine Science at Mars Horsecare, and an Adjunct Professor of Equine Studies at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Before moving to Waltham, Pat was the Head of the Clinical Chemistry and Haematology Laboratories as well as her own Metabolic Lameness Research group at the Animal Health Trust, Newmarket. She served as President of the British Equine Veterinary Association in 1999 and as executive board director of the Equine Veterinary Journal from 1999–2006. In 2002, she was awarded Diplomate status of the European College of Veterinary Clinical and Comparative Nutrition. Dr. Harris lectures worldwide on nutrition as it affects the health, welfare, behaviour, and performance of the horse. She is the author or co-author of numerous lay publications, scientific papers, abstracts, and book chapters. She was a reviewer of the NRC’ s 2007 publication, Nutrient Requirements of Horses. Harris received an M.A., a VetMB/MRCVS, and a Ph.D., all from Cambridge University

Dr. Stephanie Valberg D.V.M.
Dr. Stephanie Valberg is an international leader in equine exercise physiology research. In particular, she has investigated tying-up syndrome extensively over the past several years. She is presently an associate professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Valberg received her D.V.M. degree from the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. In addition, she received a Ph.D. from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala, Sweden. In 1998, Valberg was honored with the EquiSci International Award, an honor presented every four years to the individual whose work most significantly impacts equine exercise physiology research.
Dr. Valberg's research is focused on muscle disorders in large animals, particularly metabolic myopathies including polysaccharide storage myopathy, glycogen branching enzyme deficiency, and recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis. She is a member of the International Equine Genome Mapping group which is developing the genome map and applying it to identify the heritable basis for muscle disorders.

Richard Piercy Ph.D
Richard qualified from Cambridge University in 1994. After two years in private equine practice he moved to the USA and completed a residency in equine internal medicine at The Ohio State University and a Master of Science degree in muscle physiology and disease.
He returned to the UK to complete doctoral training in molecular and cellular biology of neuromuscular diseases as a Wellcome Fellow at the Dubowitz Neuromuscular Centre, Imperial College from where he attained his PhD. Richard is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Imperial College and University College London.
Richard’s research interests include comparative aspects of primary muscle disorders, including exertional rhabdomyolysis, polysaccharide storage myopathy and atypical myopathy in horses, centronuclear myopathy and dystrophin-deficient muscular dystrophy in dogs and Emery Dreifuss muscular dystrophy in humans. His laboratory also has a growing international programme of research into recurrent laryngeal neuropathy in horses ("roaring").

Dr. Dominique-Marie Votion
Dominique-Marie Votion is an Assistant Professor at the Equine European Centre of Mont-le-Soie, University of Liège, Belgium.  Prior joining the Centre, she received her PhD with a thesis entitled “Equine Lung Scintigraphy: Methodology, Definition of Reference Values and Potential Applications of Pulmonary Scintigraphy”.  In 2003, she has been granted with a 2 years research fund to study atypical myopathy in grazing horses.  In 2005, she has initiated the “Atypical Myopathy Alert Group” (AMAG), an informal European epidemio-surveillance network consisting of European equine veterinarians and researchers concerned by the condition.  This European network aims to favor the quick diffusion of alert message from the scientific field to the equine sector thus favoring the setting of preventive measures edited from ongoing epidemiological investigations.

Her interest for the muscle in healthy and myopathic horses includes the study of the mitochondrial function and since 2007; she is an active member of the Mitochondrial Physiology (MiP) society.  She has validated the technique of high resolution respirometry in horses that enables to monitor the mitochondrial respiratory function in small permeabilized muscle samples. 

Dr. Han van der Kolk DVM
Han van der Kolk was born on August 22, 1962 in Zwolle, the Netherlands. In this city he attended the Thomas-a-Kempis High School, passing his final examinations in 1980. In the same year he started the course in Veterinary Medicine at the State University of Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands. In 1986, in his final year, he took part in the Visiting Summer Student Program at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, University of Guelph, Canada. On August 28, 1987 he graduated in Veterinary Medicine. Since the 1st of December, 1987 he has been working as a member of the staff of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University. In 1989 he spent three months at the Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Endocrine Section, Michigan State University, USA (under supervision of prof. dr. R.F. Nachreiner). He completed his PhD on november 14, 1991 entitled ‘Some aspects of the bovine pituitary-adrenocortical axis with special reference to persistent udder oedema’ under the supervision of prof. dr. H.J. Breukink and prof. dr. E. Gruys in close collaboration with dr. Th. Wensing. He became a diplomate in Equine Internal Medicine of the European College of Equine Internal Medicine on september 16, 2003. Since 2005 he has been appointed associate Professor in Equine Internal Medicine with endocrinology and metabolism as area of research. He is editor-in-chief of the Veterinary Quarterly. On September 17, 1993 he married to Marjolein Kousemaker and they have two daughters.

Dr. Myriam Hesta DVM
Myriam Hesta is working at the Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and is responsible for the nutrition of companion animals incl. horses. She is supervising several PhD students with main topics on gastrointestinal health and obesity in dogs, cats and horses. Moreover she is also a diplomate of the European college of veterinary and comparative nutrition (ECVCN) and guides several residents. Recently, she started a service for clinical feed advice for horses at the faculty of veterinary medicine in Ghent

Before the start of the EEHNC congress an applied workshop programme will be organized. The workshop content is adapted to the target group indicated below. Three workshops have an “applied” character. The workshops will be given by experienced professionals and have a multidisciplinary approach regarding equine nutrition and health. The workshops provide the participant with practical skills and give the opportunity to discuss the presented topics in more detail with other equine professionals present.

Workshop A: Your update on EU feed legislation & Nutritional causes of doping
This session is a combined workshop session that provides the feed industry with an update regarding the EU-feed legislation in combination with a topic related to nutritional causes of doping. The workshop consists of 2 presentations:

1. “Your update on EU feed legislation” by Diederik Standaert
2. “Nutritional causes of doping” by Dr. Yves Bonnaire

Diederik Standaert
Diederik Standaert works for the Directorate General for Animals, Plants and Food – Service Food, Feed and other Consumption Products of the Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment (Belgian Authorities). He is the representative of the Belgian delegation at the Standing Committee for the Food Chain and Animal Health – Animal Nutrition Section (European Commission) and its working groups. He is also involved in Working Groups at the Council that discuss new proposals concerning feed legislation (additives, undesirable substances, compound feed). He is responsible for the transposition and/or implementation of EU Directives, Decisions and Regulations concerning animal feeding stuffs legislation into Belgian law.

Workshop B: “Muscle Diagnostics”
This workshop will be presented by Stephanie Valberg & Richard Piercy. This workshop is only available for veterinarians and researchers.

The intention is to have a theoretical, but very practical workshop presentation. As the sessions in the congress programme will focus more on nutrition this workshop provides the opportunity to discuss   diagnostic tools and treatment options for horses with muscle disease in a case wise manner. Questions like “Does the horse suffer from a myopathy? “If yes, which myopathy?” and “how should I treat this specific equine myopathy?” will be discussed? The workshop will also include a demonstration regarding muscle biopsy. Possibly, participants may have the opportunity to practice their muscle biopsy skills.

Workshop C:: “Upper airway endoscopy in exercising horses”
The congress organization has decided to reschedule this workshop to a free demonstration at the BLOSO centre provided after the Friday programme. From 18.00 -19.00 we will have two similar  demonstrations starting at about 18.00 and 18.30.  The demonstrations will be given by Emanuelle van Erck. The demonstration will be open to all congress participants. You cannot register anymore for this workshop.

As an athlete, the horse is limited in his performance by its respiratory system. Amongst the respiratory conditions which may further impair performance, upper airway dynamic obstructions are frequently encountered. Because of their dynamic nature, exams performed at rest are often disappointing and may lead to misdiagnosis ...and inappropriate treatment. The development of overground endoscopes has revolutionized the way we diagnose dynamic upper airway problems, allowing to investigate what happens during real exercising conditions and how the rider's action may interfere with the horse's breathing. This demonstration proposes to show how this new technology operates on a ridden horse and will include a presentation of some interactive clinical cases to illustrate its applications as well as challenge participants!

Dr Emmanuelle van Erck – Westergren DVM, PhD, Diplomate ECEIM
Emmanuelle van Erck-Westergren graduated in 1996 from the French Veterinary School of Maisons-Alfort.  She obtained a PhD on respiratory function testing in horses at the University of Liège (Belgium). She traveled to Cornell (USA) and Uppsala Universities (Sweden) which triggered her enthusiasm for equine sports medicine. After working two years at the equine clinic at the veterinary school of Lyon (France), Emmanuelle joined the Equine Sports Medicine Centre in Liège in 2000. She has specialized in the investigation of performance and poor performance in equine athletes. She contributed to developing the equine sports medicine unit in the CIRALE in Normandy (France) where she consulted as senior clinician. In January 2010, she developed her own referral practice in equine internal and sports medicine in Belgium.

Emmanuelle was appointed « de facto » diplomate of the European College of Equine Internal Medicine (ECEIM) in 2008. Her areas of interest are all aspects of equine sports medicine and exercise physiology, as well as cardio-respiratory diagnosis of poor performance. She has published over 30 scientific articles and supervises several clinical research projects on these topics.

Optomed will kindly provide the diagnostic material for this workshop.

Workshop D: Workshop D: Ration formulation for horses with clinical problems
This workshop will be presented by by Pat Harris, Ray Geor a.o.  This workshop is especially organized for equine professionals and those interested in practical ration formulation. Participants will discuss and formulate rations for performance horses.

Participants are invited to send also there specific questions regarding horse feeding, clinical cases, etc. to the 5th EEHNC secretary or include your questions in the “additional details field”  at the end of the registration form.

Workshop E: “Demonstration: Needle EMG in healthy horses and horses¹ with neuromuscular disorders” by Inge Wijnberg (Vets & researchers only)
This workshop is cancelled. However, the organization has arranged a Meet & Greet with Inge Wijnberg after the Friday Programme. Inge will prepare a short presentation and is available for questions for those interested in the EMG technique. The meet & Greet will be in the “Yellow room” (CC De Schakel, Downstairs) and is scheduled from 17.30 – 18.00.
¹ Only when available

Dr Inge Wijnberg, DVM, PhD, Diplomate ECEIM
Inge Wijnberg studied Veterinary Medicine at Utrecht University. After ending her doctoral phase in 1997, she studied in the United States of America and received an additional doctoral exam for the topics Zoo Animal Medicine (Brookfield Zoo, Illinois), Medical Services (Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care and Radiology), and Equine Medicine and Surgery (both at the University of Columbia, Missouri). She graduated in December 1990 and worked for 4 years in mixed private practices and at the department of Immunobiology of the RIVM in Bilthoven (NL). In January 1995 she started a working at the former department t of Large animal Medicine and Nutrition and started a residency in Equine Internal Medicine and continued working in private practise. In January 2002 she finished her PhD entitled: “The diagnostic possibilities of needle EMG in the horse”. In 2004 she was registered at the European college of Equine Internal Medicine and is currently assistant professor in Equine Internal Medicine. She is still involved in research activities on topics like training, overtraining, neuromuscular disorders and clinical neurophysiology. Her specific areas of interest are cardiology, neonatology and clinical neurophysiology. Since 1996 she is supervisor of the Neonatal Intensive Care unit at Utrecht University.

The workshop section will be updated with further details during time

Session: Poster presentations
Abstracts should deal with experimental work about equine nutrition or with cases providing novel insights or hypotheses, with relevance to equine health or performance. The submission of abstracts dealing with the congress theme “Feeding the muscles” is highly encouraged.  Length of the abstract should not exceed 300 Words. The abstract should be delivered as a Word® document. Page margins should be set at 2.5 cm from the left margin, 2.5 cm from the right margin, 2.5 cm from the top and 2.5 cm from the bottom. All texts should be prepared in Times (New Roman) with font size 12. The abstract titles should be printed in bold and with font size 14.  Please, follow this example for lay-out (the abstract should include a title, authors, affiliations, research question, material and methods, main results, main conclusion and/or discussion points). The use of references is optional. A call for abstracts is open till January 10, 2011. The call for abstracts is closed.

General procedures, terms and conditions
An accepted abstracts in the open session, submitted before the submission deadline, earns one reduced entry fee of 50% for the congress (this is only valid for the first 10 accepted abstracts; the reduction is not valid for the congress dinner). Please submit your abstract by sending it to: david.van.doorn@equine-congress.com. After submission, a notification of acceptance will be sent following positive judgment by independent referees. Authors of accepted abstracts are expected to prepare a poster for the congress. Authors will not present their work orally, but the organization will also request to provide a brief standardized PowerPoint presentation that will be used during the plenary discussion of the posters during the open session.  During that session, any question raised by the congress participants will be tackled. The author notification date is scheduled on February 3, 2011.

Poster Award
The organization will award the best Poster with 500 Euro.

Credit points for continuing education
Continuing Education, Dutch Equine Veterinarians (SVAK)
The 5th EEHNC has been accredited for 2 x 2 day shifts by the Equine technical committee. Click here for more information about SVAK.

IPV
The veterinary day of the 5th EEHNC is part of the IPV education programme for Belgian equine veterinarians. 

Registration
Information regarding the congress fees and online registration can be found here . The registration will close April 8, 12.00. Those who would like to participate in the 5th EEHNC after this date & time should contact Linda de Herdt (E-mail: registration@equine-congress.com; Phone: +32 9 242 8225).

Congress Location
The congress will take place at the theater “De Schakel ”. Address: Schakelstraat 8, 8790 Waregem. There will be transport from the congress hotel to the Congress Location (Important note: the Congress hotel is not situated in Waregem but in “Kortrijk”). Kortrijk is also called Courtrai in French. The congress hotel can easily be reached by public transport.  Find more information regarding the logistics in the Hotel & and travel information below.

Waregem is a young city and was founded in the year 2000. Horses play an important role in the day to day city life. Every year one of Belgium’s well-known equestrian events “Waregem Koerse” takes place at the Gaverbeek Hippodroom. This event takes place on the first Tuesday after the last Sunday of August. There are trotting races and obstacle races during this event. In addition, every weekend between May and September trotting races take place at this Equestrian centre. The ‘Bloso Sportcentrum Gaverbeek’ is also located in this area. This equestrian centre has two indoor riding arenas, an education centre for eventing, padding and an outdoor racetrack with permanent fences. Bloso also offers on-the-spot accommodation. It can accommodate up to 200 horses and 60 people. Horses have access to stables and pasture. “Bloso” also organizes a number of equestrian holiday festivities and special equestrian courses. It is also possible to use the Bloso facilities for private purposes.
More information about Waregem city can be found here.

Exhibition regarding the development of the equine veterinary profession

From April till early May, the city of Waregem will also organize an exhibition related to the development of the equine veterinary profession. More information (in Dutch) is available in the press information section of this website or can be found here.

Congress hotel
The congress organization has arranged a special prize with the “Parkhotel kortrijk”. For congress visitors a reduced fee of 102.00 EUR for a single room and 114.00 Euro for a double room is valid. This fee includes breakfast.  Rooms should be booked directly at the hotel.

Please, mention in your correspondence to the hotel that you are a congress visitor (mention 5th EEHNC- VISITOR on your reservation). This fee is only valid when the hotel is contacted by e-mail: info.parkhotel@parkhotel.be, Phone: (+32) 56 22 03 03 or Fax: (+32) 56 22 14 02.

The organization will organize transport from the “Park Hotel Kortrijk” – congress Location

The surroundings of Waregem are popular amongst tourists and the organization recommends visitors to book at one of the near hotels as soon as possible. An overview of other hotel accommodations in the Waregem area can be found here (Dutch) or here (Dutch, French)

Student accommodation
The organization has arranged a special student accommodation for those students attending the congress programme from Friday till Saturday at the Bloso Sporthotel at Waregem. It is possible to extent your stay till Sunday. This may be of special interest for those traveling by car from the Netherlands/Belgium or near countries. Rooms should be booked directly at the Bloso Sportshotel. Rooms are available from Friday afternoon (April 15, 2011) onwards but it is possible to drop your luggage Friday morning.  More information can be downloaded here (Dutch) or here (English).

• Travel & (public) transport Information

Preferred travel supplier
The congress organization has selected BCD travel as preferred travel agency. Please check   www.bcd-travel-direct.be for your travel options. BCD is able to arrange and book your full trip (flights and trains) to the 5th EEHNC.
As a leading provider of global corporate travel management, BCD Travel simplifies and streamlines the business of travel. This benefits the organization on every level: from the bottom line to the business traveler. BCD Travel combines service leadership with flexible technology, intelligent data analysis and strategic solutions to provide travel management advantages to customers of all sizes, all around the globe. BCD services include offline and online travel management, travel consultancy, group travel, leisure travel and videoconferencing solutions.

Public transportation: From Belgian Airports to the Congress hotel
The congress hotel is situated at the opposite side of the Kortrijk (Courtrai) Railway station. Note: the congress hotel is located at Kortrijk and not at Waregem (congress location). Transport will be arranged from the congress hotel to the congress location in Waregem.

Continental flights
We would like to share the following suggestion for international travelers /continental flights. It may be more time efficient to fly to Charles de Gaulle (Paris) in combination with a high speed train connection to Lille and taking a regular train to Kortrijk/Courtrai. International trains arrive at Railway station “Lille Europe”. The train to Kortrijk / Courtrai leaves from Railway station “Lille Flandres”. It is about a five minute walk (across the bridge) from “Lille Europe” to the “Lille Flanders” railway station. Trains in the Kortrijk/ourtrai direction run once every hour (at about .05). More details about train connections can be found on http://www.b-rail.be/main/E/.
For those participants with a good flight connection to Amsterdam may consider flying to Schiphol Airport and take the international train to Antwerp (Thalys) and change trains once to “Kortrijk/Courtrai”. More information about international train connections from the Netherlands can be found here.

European travelers
Brussels Airport – Kortrijk
There is no direct train connection between Brussel Airport (Zaventem) and Kortrijk Station. From the Brussel Airport railway station you may have to change trains once at Brussel Noord. From Brussel Noord, direct train connections to Kortrijk railway station are available (± every hour). 

Antwerp Airport - Kortrijk
There is a direct train connection between Antwerpen Central and Kortrijk station (± every half hour). There is no direct train connection between Antwerpen Airport (Deurne) and Antwerpen Central station.  Bus 14 departs right in front of the Arrivals Hall to Antwerpen Central Station. This bus departs about every 15 min.

Oostende Airport – Kortrijk
There is a direct train connection between Oostende railway station and Kortrijk station. There is no direct train connection between Oostende Airport and Oostende railway station. At Oostende Airport take bus 6 to Oostende station (± every half hour).

Public transportation:  Congress hotel – Congress location
Waregem has a Railway station. There is a direct train connection between Kortrijk station and Waregem station. 

The congress location is about a 15 minutes’ walk from Waregem station. You can download a map for walking instructions from Waregem Station to the congress location here.

By car (to congress location)
A Dutch travel plan provided by Theater de Schakel can be found here. Information regarding the location for workshop can be found here.

This section will be updated regularly

Language

The official language of the symposium is English.

Climate

The climate in Belgium is coastal and therefore variable. The temperature in April will be around 8 °C but may vary a lot (up to 10 degrees and even more).

Passports and Visa

Valid passports are required for entry into Belgium. Participants should check with their agents whether they would require a visa for travel to Belgium. If so they are advised to apply to the nearest Belgium Embassy or Consulate at least two months before the intended day of travel.

Insurance

Liabilities for personal injuries, losses or damages to personal belongings remain the responsibility of the individual. The organizers are also not responsible for delays or any modification in the programme due to unforeseen circumstances. Please check the validity of your personal insurance.

Sponsoring & MDEON approval

The 5th EEHNC is an MDEON approved congress (MDEON visa no: 11/V2/3400/002147).

Tourist information can be found by selecting this link.

The congress hotel has a very good (direct) train connection with cities like Brugge and Ghent. Participants can easily combine this congress with visiting one of Belgium’s famous cities.

Press release 5th EEHNC
Persbericht 5th EEHNC
Poster Award (Picture: copyright EEHNC)
Call for abstracts (English)
Congress announcement (English)
Tentoonstelling: Van Paardenmiddel tot Paardendokter (Dutch)
Flyer 5th EEHNC

Feel free to send your requests for information to David van Doorn (Secretary), david.van.doorn@equine-congress.com