Lüsche, Germany, April 15 to 17, 2026
in cooperation with Tierklinik Lüsche
This three-day course focusing on head disorders of the horse will provide up to twelve participants with an in-depth overview of surgical approaches, techniques, and outcomes for the most usual developmental and traumatic injuries. The course is designed around practical wet labs covering the techniques learned during the theoretical sessions. Continuous Professional Education accreditation has been requested from ATF (Akademie für Tierärztliche Fortbildung = German Academy for Continuous Veterinary Education).
Expected outcomes
At the end of the course participants are expected to be able to
- recognize, workup and establish a plan for traumatic and congenital head disorders.
- Perform surgical approaches to the sinus
- Fixate rostral and mandibular ramus fractures
- Deal with sinocutaneous tracts
- Diagnose and treat temporohyoid disease
Prerequisites
- Knowledge and understanding of equine head anatomy
- Knowledge of basic surgical principles
- Familiar with equine imaging techniques of the head
The arthroscopy working stations are kindly provided by Karl Storz
and the equipment for the arthrocentesis by Veterinary Instrumentation
Program
April 15
10:00 – The equine sinus system: anatomy, approaches, diagnostic imaging and therapy. Part I. Timo Zwick
11:00 – Coffee break
11:15 – Continue part II. Timo Zwick
12:30 – Management of fistulas. Timo Zwick
13:30 – Lunch
14:30 – Wet lab sinoscopy incl. septum maxillaris bulla fenestration
16:00 – Coffee break
16:30 – Wet lab maxillary and frontal bone flaps
18:00 – Sedation & Local anesthetic techniques at the head (in Gasthof Evers with a beer or two). Henry Tremaine
18:45 – End
April 16
08:30 – Surgical repair of eyelid lacerations and enucleation techniques. Jan Kümmerle
09:00 – Temporohyoid osteoarthropathy: Diagnosis and surgical treatment. Jan Kümmerle
10:00 – Coffee break
10:15 – Wet lab local anesthesia at the head, eyelid laceration repair and enucleation
12.00 – Lunch
13.15 – Fixation of Mandibular/Maxillary/frontal fractures and depression fractions. Jan Kümmerle
14:10 – Overview of congenital maxillofacial abnormalities in foals with focus on treatment of overjet and overbite. Henry Tremaine
15:10 – Coffee break
15.30 – Wet lab cerclage fixation of mandibular/maxillary fractures
17.30 – Soft tissue injuries of the head: tongue/lip lacerations, alar fold, ear injuries etc. Henry Tremaine
18.30 – End
April 17
08:30 – Wet lab plate fixation of mandibular fractures
11:00 – Coffee break
11:30 – Wet lab ceratohyoidectomy and soft tissue injuries
12:45 – Lunch
13:30 – Discussion of plate fixation constructs and all other matters
15:00 – End
Instructors
Jan Kümmerle
Graduated in 2002 from the Veterinary Medicine University of Hanover, Germany. He then completed a Doctoral thesis in the field of craniomaxillofacial surgery at the Musculoskeletal Research Unit in Zurich. Afterwards, he spent two years at the Veterinary Medicine University of Vienna, Austria, to complete a rotating equine internship and work in the department of equine orthopedics before he returned to Zurich for an ECVS residency. He became Fachtierarzt für Pferde in 2009 and a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2010. Since then he is working as a senior surgeon at the Equine Hospital of the University of Zurich. In 2017, he successfully defended a PhD thesis entitled “Identification of novel tendon specific molecular markers in the horse”. His special interest is on orthopedic surgery and his research focuses on fractures, arthroscopy and tendon diseases of horses.
Henry Tremaine
graduated from the Royal veterinary college, spent 4 years in practice and subsequently undertook a surgical residency at the University at Edinburgh resulting in an MPhil and RCVS certificate in surgery. He continued his development at Ohio state University before returning to Edinburgh as a lecturer in Surgery and gained ECVS Diplomas in Equine Surgery and Dentistry along the way. From 2002 Until 2017 he was senior lecturer in equine surgery at the University of Bristol and he was also head of equine clinical services until 2015. In 2017 he joined B&W Equine Vets, a multi-clinic equine practice in Gloucestershire comprising 40+ veterinarians which is now part of CVS Ltd. Henry is a RCVS and European specialist in equine surgery and dentistry and his particular interests are upper airway surgery, maxillofacial surgery and dentistry. He has published widely in these fields and lectured and taught at conferences and courses around the world, including combining veterinary education with sports and wellness. Henry’s other interests include playing tennis, cycling, skiing, kitesurfing, eating delicious food in exotic places and occasional field sports
Timo Zwick
Graduated from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany, where he obtained his Doctor vet. med. degree in 1996. He was an assistant in several equine practices and clinics until becoming a partner in the Tierärztliche Klinik Gessertshausen, Germany, in 2001. There he founded the Equine Dental Station in 2004. In 2005 he became accredited as an Equine Dental Practitioner by the IGFP –Internationale Gesellschaft zur Funktionsverbesserung der Pferdezähne. In 2009 he introduced the use of computer tomography to scan the head of standing horses. His routine work involves ambulatory as well as stationary work on horses with dental and sinus diseases. His special field is head surgery, planned with CT images.
What you need to know...
Dates & Locations
April 15 in the morning lectures in Gasthof Evers, in the afternoon wet lab in Tierklinik Lüsche
April 16 and 17 lectures and wet labs in Tierklinik Lüsche
Gasthof Evers: Dorfstraße 9, 49456 Lüsche, Germany
Phone +49 (0) 54 38 / 6 30; https://www.gasthof-evers.de
Tierklinik Lüsche: Essener Str. 39 a, 49456 Lüsche, Germany
Phone +49 (0) 5438-95850; www.tierklinik-luesche.de
Accommodation
In Bremen
for those arriving by plane or train on April 14 or very early on April 15 (we leave from the hotel to the Gasthof Evers, near the clinic at 8:45 hours):
Holiday Inn Express Bremen Airport
Hanna-Kunath-Straße 5, 28199 Bremen
Phone: +49 (0) 421-322852002; reservation@express-bremen-airport.de
Others in Bremen: www.bremen.de
Near the clinic in Lüsche
Park Hotel Cloppenburg (instructors are accommodated here; a room contingent is reserved for participants until March 1 under the code “equine course”)
Burgstraße 8, 49661 Cloppenburg
Phone: +49 (0) 4471-6614; Fax: -6617; info@parkhotel-cloppenburg.de; www.parkhotel-cloppenburg.de
Münsterländerhof
Bahnhofstraße 30, 49661 Cloppenburg
Phone: +49 (0) 4471-7020–70; Fax: –77; info@muensterlaenderhof.info; http://www.muensterlaenderhof.de/
Further information
Arbeitsgruppe Pferd – Task Force Horse
Arno Lindner
Heinrich-Röttgen-Str. 20, 52428 Jülich, Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 2461 340-430; contact@agpferd.de; www.agpferd.com
- Nearest airports: Bremen (BRE); Hamburg (HAM); Hannover (HAJ)
- On Bremen: www.bremen.de
- Bio of speakers in https://agpferd.com/equine-head-surgery-days-4
- More equine professionals’ education: Please check under events in agpferd.com