History

The First International Symposium on Equine Reproduction (ISER) was held in Cambridge, UK in July 1974 and was initiated by Twink Allen with the support of John Hughes, Doug Mitchell, Bill Pickett and Peter Rossdale. The purpose of the meeting was to provide a forum for biologists and veterinarians interested in equine reproduction to exchange and argue their views, to review the present state of knowledge of the subject, to produce guidelines for future research, and to foster international friendship and collaboration.

The meeting brought together scientists and veterinarians from around the world and provided a forum for exchange of information on clinical and basic research aspects of equine reproduction. The proceedings, entitled 'Equine Reproduction', were published as a supplement of the Journal of Reproduction and Fertility. This was the start of a successful and productive series of symposia on equine reproduction.

The Second International Symposium on Equine Reproduction was held four years later (July 1978) at the University of California, Davis, USA. Eighty-three papers were presented on basic and clinical research in all aspects of equine reproduction. The proceedings of this meeting, appropriately entitled 'Equine Reproduction II', were again published as a supplement to the Journal of Reproduction and Fertility and are still quoted in the current literature. A tradition was born.

Since 1978, the International Symposium on Equine Reproduction has continued to be organised every four years: Sydney, Australia 1982; Calgary, Canada 1986; Deauville, France 1990; Caxambu, Brazil 1994; Onderstepoort, South Africa 1998; Fort Collins, Colorado USA, 2002; Kerkrade, the Netherlands, 2006 and Lexington, Kentucky USA, 2010.

ISER X - Kentucky, USA 2010

The Tenth International Symposium on Equine Reproduction was held in Lexington, Kentucky. ISER X proved to be a very popular meeting with many potential delegates having to be turned away. There were 79 oral presentations and 84 poster presentations. The John Hughes memorial lecture given by Professor Twink Allen from the Paul Mellon Laboratory and it was entitled 'Sex, science and satisfaction: a heady brew'. There were also parallel workshop sessions on the Tuesday and Thursday evenings in which topics of interest to the practising veterinarian were discussed in a more informal fashion; these were extremely well attended. The social programme included a barbecue on Sunday evening, a visit to a bourbon distillery followed by dinner on Monday evening. On Wednesday afternoon delegates visting various veterinary practices and horse farms in the area which was then followed by dinner and dancing at the Kentucky Horse Park. The closing dinner was held at Keeneland Racecourse.

ISER IX - Kerkrade, the Netherlands 2006

The Ninth International Symposium on Equine Reproduction was held at Rolduc Monastery in Kerkrade, Limburg - the most southerly province in the Netherlands. ISER IX broadly maintained the popular and successful format of previous meetings by adhering to the limit of 275 delegates, approximately half of whom (143) presented short oral presentations (75) or posters. The John Hughes memorial lecture on the subject of the 'Fetal Origins of Adult Disease' was delivered by Professor John Challis of University of Toronto. As has now become customary, the scientific programme was augmented with parallel workshop sessions on the Tuesday and Thursday evenings in which topics of interest to the practising veterinarian were discussed in a more informal fashion. The social programme was also enjoyable including a 'safari dinner' through Maastricht on the Monday evening, and with the Wednesday afternoon trip encompassing a horse show, visit to the famous grottoes and a boat trip on the River Maas. Immediately before ISER IX an extra course was organised to enable practising veterinarians to benefit more directly from the presence of this large group of equine reproductive 'experts'.

Click here to view selected pictures from this meeting

Delegates from previous meetings



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