Preface
of A Dorothy Russell Havemeyer Foundation Workshop
Advanced Current Topics in
Stallion Veterinary Practice
17- 20 September 2000
Recent
advances in biotechnology are quite amazing.
It is becoming difficult to keep up with all the new reports in this area
of research that are being published every day in the world literature.
The new techniques that help overcome many of fertility problems in
humans and animals have nearly overshadowed other domains of research and
practice in human and animal reproduction.
Simultaneously,
there are still many questions to answer and issues to solve in basic physiology
of reproduction as well as many clinical problems that are still waiting
explanation and solution. People
who are working on these issues surely have many years of work ahead.
I
do not have to convince anybody attending this meeting that the horse is a
wonderful animal. We all love this
great creature and want to work with it to understand it better and to help it
to survive in this world. There are
big forums that are discussing equine reproductive problems and some regular
meetings gathering many researchers working in equine reproduction.
Many of us attend these meetings and participate in these forums.
However, there is never enough time to really finish up discussions and
to go over all the important questions with as much detail as we would like to.
Well, that’s what workshops are for…
The
world horse population is decreasing every year. And even though the economy of the equine industry has
experienced some problems in recent years, the value of some special,
distinguished animals has been increasing.
This fact concerns especially stallions that have to prove their
excellence on racetracks, horse shows or other competitions and then in breeding
sheds. These are not easy tasks for
these animals. All of us, working
in science or practice, are trying to help them to meet these expectations.
Growing
interest in a trade of biological material, such as horse semen, between the
countries throughout the world brings new challenges to us.
Techniques of cooling and freezing of stallion semen still need to be
improved. Also, we need to
undertake an effort to make the systems and regulations concerning stallion
semen evaluation, processing, and transport more comparable between the
countries, to help our work become more efficient and the horse industry more
productive.
Where would we have been without our teachers?
Early work done in Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties is still a solid
foundation for our present work. There
were many researchers working during those times.
However, fruits of close collaborations between Professor Władysław
Bielański from Krakow and Professor Robert Kenney from Pennsylvania should
be especially acknowledged. There
are many fundamental papers by these authors.
Now three and four generations of their students are still continuing
their paths, many of them are attending this workshop.
I am so happy that we are meeting in Krakow where Professor Bielański
did his work on equine reproduction and where Professor Tischner continues that
work. And it is a great privilege
of all of us to have Professor Robert Kenney as a very special honorary guest of
this workshop. We truly count on his extraordinary willingness to share his
advice and wisdom with us.
A workshop is a very special form of a scientific meeting.
The Dorothy Russell Havemeyer Foundation has been holding a number of
such meetings on focused topics in equine reproduction for many years now.
Thanks to the work of this foundation, represented here by Mr. Gene
Pranzo, we are able to meet. We
owe special appreciation to Dr. Sue McDonnell - for her idea of meeting here in
Krakow and for her consistent support and help, especially in coordinating the
program.
I am sure that this workshop will be very productive.
It will bring some solutions to the problems that we are going to
discuss, as well as will initiate new research ideas and collaborations. Also,
welcome to Krakow. I trust you all
will enjoy the history and beauty, and will return often.
Małgosia Pozor
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