We invite you to join our webinar on Equine Pain: Physiology and Assessment and APHIS Protocol for Prohibited Substance Detection/Testing on Tennessee Walking Horses on Thursday, April 2, 2020 from 11:00 am - 12:30 pm EDT. The committee will hear from invited speakers Dr. Alonso Guedes, Dr. Aaron Rhyner, and Ms. Melissa Radel. Members of the public are requested to register remotely.

There is no time dedicated during the webinar for interested parties to give short public statements for the committee’s consideration. However, any member of the public can send comments for the committee’s consideration to [email protected] at any time during the course of the study. All written materials submitted to the committee will be included in the Public Access File created for the Committee and may be quoted in whole or in part in the Committee’s report with attribution.

The recording of the meeting will be posted on the study website one week after the webinar.

Meeting Information:
Thursday, April 2, 2020
 
Equine Pain: Physiology and Assessment, Dr. Alonso Guedes
11:00 am - 11:30 am (EDT)
 
APHIS Protocol for Foreign Substance Detection/Testing on Tennessee Walking Horses, Dr. Aaron Rhyner and Ms. Melissa Radel
11:30 am - 12:30 pm (EDT)

Register for the meeting here.

About the Study

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will convene an ad hoc committee of equine veterinarians and experts with relevant experience and appropriate professional certifications or academic degrees to review the scientific and veterinary medical literature on hoof and pastern pain and skin/tissue changes on the pastern of horses, and evaluate methods used to identify soreness in horses (as defined in the Horse Protection Act* and the implementing regulations) for their scientific validity and reliability.  In the course of its study, the committee will:

-examine what is known about the quality and consistency of available methods to identify soreness in horses
identify potential new and emerging methods, approaches, and technologies for detecting hoof and pastern pain and its causes
-identify research and technology needs to improve the reliability of methods to detect soreness

In a consensus report, the committee will describe its conclusions about the validity and reliability of methods, and provide recommendations to improve the efficacy and consistency of approaches to identifying soreness.  The report will also review the Horse Protection Act regulations, including the "scar rule" found at 9. C.F.R. 11.3 and identify changes that would be necessary to implement the findings of the study.

View statement of task.