Equine Health Update Issue 2 Volume 19 | Page 39

EQUINE | News 2017 SAEVA Congress T he 2017 South African Equine Veterinary Associa- tion (SAEVA) 50th Birthday Congress took place from 12 – 16 February at the beautiful Skukuza Restcamp in the Kruger National Park. The theme for this year’s congress was the Past, the Present and the Fu- ture of equine veterinary science and we were treated to excellent lectures by twelve international guest expert speakers. The congress attracted delegates from far and wild both local and international. This year the congress was held over four full days allowing for even more lec- tures than ever before and I think every delegate walked away this year having learnt something new. The congress kicked off with the cocktail party on the Sunday evening with all the delegates getting the chance to mingle, catch up with old friends, get ac- quainted with new colleagues and browse thru the trade stands and see all the trade representatives and what they had on offer. Lectures started bright and early Monday morning with a great talk from Prof Wayne McIlwraith, of Colorado State University, on equine joint injury and disease and how the treatment and diagnosis of these conditions has evolved over the years. After tea, Prof Roger Smith presented on tendon pathology and how although many new treatments have been developed in recent years there is still limited evidence of high level efficacy. The future of treating pathology in the tendons lies in more accurate diagnosis of early injury and the treat- ment of these with stem cell therapy. The day of lectures was wrapped up by Prof Michael Schramme, of the Uni- • Volume 19 no 2 • June 2017 • 39