09 Aug 2022
The 10th European Workshop on Equine Nutrition (EWEN) will take place at the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) in Gloucestershire later this month.
EWEN, which was started by Professor Veronique Julliand and was first held in Dijon in France in 2002, is a bi-annual meeting for experts to share equine nutrition research. While it is a European event, it attracts delegates from all over the world.
Organiser Simon Daniels, Senior Lecturer in Equine Management and Science at the RAU, said: “The last time EWEN came to the UK was in 2010 and it was also held at the RAU. Our own equine research group is very active in nutrition research and RAU Professor Meriel Moore-Colyer is currently the Chair of EWEN’s scientific committee.
“EWEN was due to be held at the RAU in the summer of 2020, following the 2018 meeting at SLU in Uppsala, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic so we are delighted to finally be able to host it here. It is an extra honour for us to welcome delegates in EWEN’s 20th anniversary year.”
The conference runs on alternate years to the European Equine Health and Nutrition Congress (EEHNC) and in 2020 an online general meeting in the community saw the group decide to move ahead and form EWEN as a formal society.
EWEN 2022 will start with a welcome Ploughman’s Supper at the RAU’s historic Cirencester campus on the evening of Monday 22 August followed by two full days of presentations with keynote presentations from Professor Pat Harris, Professor Stephanie Valberg, and Dr Andrew Hemmings, Head of School of Equine Management and Science at the RAU.
As well as the keynote speakers, there will also be oral and poster presentations from the scientific community on various topics associated with nutrition and gut health over the three days of the conference. And on Wednesday afternoon - to break the meeting a little bit – there will be a cultural tour of the city of Bath followed by a Gala Dinner.
The final day, Thursday 25 August, sees the Equine Nutrition: Research to Industry event - a day aimed at horse owners, those working in the industry, students, and lecturers, as well as researchers.
Simon added: “The Thursday morning session will look at research on more practically applied feeding and, in the afternoon, Prof Valberg will speak about feeding horses with polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM), and rider and coach Warren Lamperd will talk about the challenges of feeding the performance horse.
“Equine nutritionist Ruth Bishop will then present about best practice in manufacturing equine nutrition products and finally I will talk about our current understanding of the horses gut microbiome.
“While this meeting is mainly aimed at research scientists and academics and those working within the equine feed industry, it is open to anyone who is interested in equine nutrition. Everyone is welcome!”
To find out more, or to register, just visit https://europeanworkshoponequinenutrition.org/