The 21st British National Equine Forum, to be held March 5, 2013, will bring together a panel of prestigious speakers, covering a vibrant range of equestrian topics. The program will include The Right Honorable Owen Paterson, the British secretary of state for environment, food, and rural affairs who is an experienced horseman, as well as experts from the United States and Ireland. Following the success of last year’s new venue the forum will again be held in the amphitheatre style lecture room at Institution of Mechanical Engineers, just off Parliament Square in London, England.

The National Equine Forum is a non-partisan event and the only one of its kind to be held in the U.K. Each year it brings together all sectors of the U.K.’s equestrian industry to listen to and debate the latest equestrian news, views, and research, and then mingle and network with the movers and shakers of the industry over lunch. The diverse 2013 program should provide topics of interest to every element of the equestrian sector.

Ed Bracher, chief executive of Riding for the Disabled, will open the proceedings with a look at the benefits, as well as the trials and tribulations, involved with encouraging volunteers. In the morning’s two veterinary sessions Malcolm Morley BVSc, MRCVS, and chair of the equine prepurchase examination committee, will discuss what the recent prepurchase examination changes mean for the horse owner. Mark Hillyer, BVSc, PhD, Dipl. ECVS, ECEIM, MRCVS, of Newmarket Equine Hospital will then share his extensive knowledge on current colic treatments and success rates.

Three presentations on riding as a form of therapy will commence with international guest speaker Patricia Pendry, PhD, professor of human development at Washington State University, in Pullman, Wash., examining the scientific evidence underpinning the therapeutic advantages of riding. Jennifer Dixon-Clegg, director of the Fortune Centre of Riding Therapy will explore riding therapy in practice. Sarah Rainford, the BHS sponsored Eqvalan thesis winner, will close the session with a comprehensive talk about the effects of hippotherapy on disabled children’s joints