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2010 Equitarian Workshop (Veracruz, Mexico)

Back to Equitarian Outreach

2010 Equitarian Workshop (Veracruz, Mexico)
Service-driven Workshop Teaches Practitioners Skills for “Equitarian” Work
See more photos from this workshop here and read stories from the workshop here.

More than 500 of Mexico’s working horses, mules, burros and donkeys received vital veterinary care from 27 AAEP

Participants brought veterinary medical and surgical care to working horses near Veracruz.

volunteers and fellow Mexican equine practitioners during the first AAEP and AAEP Foundation-supported Equitarian Workshop.

The workshop, held Oct. 17-22, 2010 in Veracruz, Mexico, served as a crash course for equine practitioners seeking to use their veterinary expertise to improve the lives of working equids and people they serve in the developing world. During this highly interactive workshop, teams of practitioners traveled to impoverished communities throughout the region where working equids were in need of medical care.

Participants were forced to quickly adapt to field work as they rotated to different work stations, including welfare assessment, surgery, medicine, dentistry, parasitology, lameness, farriery and saddle fitting. Temporary work stations were

A working burro.

set up in areas about the size of a soccer field and each was directed by an experienced Equitarian practitioner. Members of the community waited in lines for hours to present their working horse, donkey, burro or mule for free treatment.

Morning lectures held at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México research farm addressed topics unique to field medicine, including performing surgeries, assessing equine welfare, understanding the varying roles of working equids, serving with cultural sensitivity and educating horse owners on proper care.

Dr. Jay Merriam, one of the founders of the AAEP’s Equitarian movement, joined with UNAM’s Dr. Mariano Hernandez to organize the meeting. The team served four geographically and culturally diverse Mexican communities with unique veterinary needs. Throughout the four-day workshop, dentistry and parasitology work stations remained especially busy. Practitioners also frequently treated cases of lameness and musculoskeletal problems, many of which were caused by match racing. The team completed 30 surgeries, including geldings, hernia repair and sarcoid resections.

According to Dr. Merriam, this combined learning and service experience has laid the foundation for future AAEP Equitarian meetings. On the final day of the

Foot problems are common.

meeting, participants assessed the needs found in the Mexican communities and shared opportunities to continue to serve in developing communities around the world. Currently, there are projects being organized to serve working equids in Nicaragua, Haiti and Bangladesh.

Dr. Merriam hopes Equitarian meetings will lend practitioners with the cultural knowledge and field training to start up new initiatives where the quality of life of the working equid can improve the condition of the community. At future workshops, Dr. Merriam said there will be more focus on educating members of the community about proper horsemanship and sustainable health care. He said there’s no better group than the AAEP, with its reputation for providing quality continuing education, to coordinate Equitarian workshops.

“The whole point of this workshop was to expose people with motivation to the possibilities,” Dr. Merriam said. “We are going to be a seed for future projects. Hopefully, these meetings will continue and attract new participants, and those participants will go on to set up their own projects or continue their efforts.”

The Equitarian Workshop was made possible through a partnership of seven organizations, including the AAEP, the AAEP Foundation, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, the Donkey Sanctuary, World Horse Welfare and the Asociación Mexicana de Médicos Veterinarios Especialalistas en Equinos, A.C.

In addition, the Foundation extends its thanks to individuals and companies for their support of this program through in-kind donations, including Pfizer Animal Health, Butler Schein Animal Health, Victor Medical Company, Horsepower Dental Tools, Mr. John Sabio and Dr. Jorge Murga.

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