Lazy days of summer

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I'm not sure where the old saying “lazy days of summer” came from. Everyone to whom I talk appears to be busy year-round and don't really experience any “lazy days of summer.” I know that my broodmare practitioner colleagues certainly look forward to July and August, since the breeding season is over and, if they have any time for vacation or to attend meetings, it generally is during July and August.

One of the summer meetings that I am looking forward to is the Ninth International Symposium on Equine Reproduction (ISER). The venue for the ISER meeting this year is Holland and will be hosted by the equine group at Utrecht University, headed by Drs. Tom Stout and Ben Colenbrander. The first of this series of international symposia, which are held every 4 years, took place in Cambridge, England in 1974. Subsequent ISER Symposia were held in Davis, CA; Sydney, Australia; Calgary, Canada; Deauville, France; Caxambu, Brazil; Pretoria, South Africa; and Fort Collins, CO. There are fewer than 12 of us who have had the privilege of presenting at all of these international symposia.

The ninth ISER will be attended by reproductive scientists and veterinarians from around the world. The six-day meeting comprises invited presentations on the stallion, non-pregnant mare, pregnant mare, gametes, and early conception. In addition, several workshops will be held during the evenings, allowing for further practical discussions on equine reproduction issues. Prior to the symposium, a one-day seminar will be held for practitioners. The organizing committee has enticed some of the ISER attendees to come a day early to speak to the European vets who will attend this meeting.

By the end of the week, one should have a pretty good idea of the status of research in equine reproduction, as well as any new trends in clinical treatments. Abstracts of the papers to be presented are already available on the internet under “Papers in Press” for the journal Animal Reproduction Science. Anyone seriously interested in staying up to date in equine reproduction will want to obtain a copy of these papers and abstracts. I will be providing a meeting report in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science after my return from Holland.

Other equine veterinarians may be attending the American Veterinary Medical Association meeting to be held in Hawaii during July, or the Society for Theriogenology meeting coming up in St. Paul, MN, August 23 through 26. Others may decide to forgo any meetings, accompany the family on a family vacation, and try to forget about their busy schedule for at least a week or so before having to start up again in the fall or the next breeding season.