UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Professor Sue Stover delivered the Milne Lecture at 68th Annual American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Convention in San Antonio. A capacity crowd of several thousand gathered in the convention center’s largest auditorium to hear “Skeletal Injuries in Equine Athletes: Pathogenesis and Training Concepts for Injury Prevention.”

Dr. Stover is internationally known for her research on the prevention of musculoskeletal injuries in equine athletes. While it is rewarding for equine veterinarians to successfully treat injured athletes and return them to competition, Dr. Stover discussed how equally rewarding and impactful it can be to help clients achieve maximum performance from their horses and minimize the risk of injury.

Her lecture discussed the impact of skeletal injuries on horse attrition and industry costs, understanding the need for skeletal adaptation to athletes’ demands, the mechanisms for injury and adaptation, the contributing factors to sport horse injuries, and then the concepts of training designed to shift the balance to adaptation and optimal performance.

In summary, Dr. Stover stated, “Understanding the biological concepts that underpin skeletal adaptation and responses to injury are useful in informing the training and competition of horses to yield optimized performance with low injury risk.”

Named after AAEP past President Frank J. Milne, the Milne Lecture is a hallmark tradition at the convention, drawing thousands of spectators. The lecture is also known as the State-of-the-Art Lecture for its groundbreaking qualities and potential to change the paradigms by which veterinarians and researchers understand that topic in the horse. The annual AAEP Convention is the largest gathering of equine practitioners in the world.

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