I’m rapt to be able to catch up with a friend next month as she’s visiting Australia. She lives in France and we met whilst studying at the Irish National Stud! Now many years later she is attending the Equitation Science Conference. This is held by the International Society for Equitation Science. It will be in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales from November 22 – 25 of 2017.
I thought I would head along to the ISES website to find out a little more about this non profit.
As it says on their about page:
“The idea of founding a society devoted to Equitation Science had first been raised during discussions at the Havemeyer Foundation Workshop on Horse Behavior and Welfare in Iceland in 2002. The following year, a satellite meeting on horse welfare was held at the International Society for Applied Ethology Congress in Italy. In 2004, the first workshop, solely devoted to Equitation Science was held at the Veterinary School of the University of Edinburgh.
As a direct result of the growing interest in Equitation Science, the 1st symposium was launched at the Australian Equine Behaviour Centre (AEBC) in 2005, where 8 peer-reviewed scientific papers were presented. The 2nd Equitation Science symposium (2006) was hosted by the Veterinary Faculty of Milano (Italy) with 16 peer-reviewed papers, 11 posters and practical demonstrations held at the Stable Rosenthal (Carpiano).
In August 2007, the 3rd symposium took place at Michigan State University, USA. This was a historic event for ISES as the Society was founded and the first general meeting held. The Symposia were then transformed to conferences.
The 4th conference, ISES Dublin 2008, took place at the Royal Dublin Society (Ireland), attracting 100 peer-reviewed scientific abstracts.
The following 5th conference at Sydney University in Australia tackled some highly topical issues. Including the sustainability of horse sports and the concept of ethical equitation, including contributions from 200 delegates representing 15 countries.”
The science behind how we use horses, communicate with them and respond to their welfare needs is an interesting one. As horses come into higher demand for entertainment and sports, it’s an area that I am sure will grow. Interested as a practitioner in your particular field? You can sign up for membership and benefit from future research projects and conferences. There are even research funding opportunities and student travel grants available – cool!
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