Catherine Kohn, VMD, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, professor in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at The Ohio State University, will be part of a multinational team of veterinarians caring for horses competing at the 2008 Olympics.

While thousands of athletes, spectators, and staff will converge upon Beijing for the majority of the sporting events, Kohn’s team will be stationed 1,240 miles south in Hong Kong, where the eventing equestrian competition is held, including the dressage, cross-country, and show jumping events.

“I am an advocate for horses,” said Kohn, whose team will provide veterinary care to hundreds of horses competing in the games. This marks her fifth Olympic games, including Los Angeles (1984), Atlanta (1996), Sydney (2000), and Athens (2004). Now, Kohn is facing her biggest Olympic challenge yet: Hong Kong’s humidity.
 
“The conditions in Hong Kong are very challenging because of the humidity,” she said. “And although horses and people can acclimate to heat, no one has ever demonstrated that there’s any way to acclimate to humidity. This is an extremely challenging environment.”

But Kohn is no rookie when it comes to caring for horses in extreme conditions