BEVA keen to stirrup interest in equine nutrition course

Equine veterinary professionals hungry to improve their knowledge of equine nutrition can now sate their appetite on BEVA’s new CPD course.

The one-day course, ‘From superfoods to supplements: How to know more than the owner’, will take place on July 7 and delivers seven CPD hours, with a some of the best-known experts in equine nutrition sharing their knowledge.

The speaker panel includes Caroline Argo, Andy Durham, Pat Harris, Nicky Jarvis and Sarah Stoneham.

Course organiser Nicky Jarvis said: “Whether it’s a conversation with an owner about their overweight horse, examining a geriatric pony with weight loss or formulating nutrition for an orphan foal, tailored nutrition is the cornerstone of every equine case we see in veterinary practice.

“We regularly treat a variety of conditions such laminitis and colic, but are we always confident about the best feeding advice to give our clients? And how often do we walk into a tack room full of the ‘latest’ supplements and wonder if any of them actually work?”

Evidence-based advice

The course will look at a range of clinical conditions to enable veterinary professionals to build evidence-based feeding advice into treatment plans, formulate diets for any age of horse and see which supplements are worth the internet hype. Speakers will provide practical tips for everything from the anorexic pony to the stubborn weight loss case.

The course covers how to:

Confidently approach the feed room on any livery yard and give up to date advice on what the owner should be feeding
Learn how to formulate the perfect diet for any age of horse from the orphan foal to the geriatric equine
Maximise treatment of clinical diseases such as laminitis, liver failure, colic and diarrhoea by feeding tailored to suit each case
Develop an understanding of the evidence behind many supplements and which ones stand up to scrutiny
Learn top tips for adapting diets to suit the fussy horse (or owner), a range of budgets and all types of stable and pasture management

BEVA President Lucy Grieve added: “Appropriate equine nutrition has never been more topical. Equine obesity is a growing problem and veterinary professionals are in a unique and privileged position to support owners on all matters of nutrition and this course will give you the knowledge you need to provide practical, constructive help.”

Further details about the course, which costs £80.00 for members and £160.00 for non-members, can be found at https://www.beva.org.uk/Education/CPD/Event-Details/eventDateId/555