Holistic approach to the diagnosis and management of pain causing poor performance or changes in behavior

Katrina Ask

is a researcher and university lecturer at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). After earning her veterinary degree from the University of Copenhagen, she spent several years working in large animal practice and as an equine veterinary surgeon. She later completed a PhD at SLU on behaviors and facial expressions associated with equine orthopaedic pain. Balancing time between teaching and research, her ongoing research primarily focus on pain assessment in bovines and equines, and those behaviors and facial expressions linked to orthopaedic pain. Katrina further utilizes advanced objective gait analysis to study movement patterns during lameness in bovines and equines, and to explore the relationship between pain and movement asymmetry.

Sue Dyson

graduated from Cambridge University, United Kingdom. She was Head of Clinical Orthopedics at the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket, England for many years until 2019 and is now an independent consultant. She has a passion for the investigation of poor performance using a holistic approach to the horse, tack, rider triad to try to maximize potential. Sue has also ridden at top British level in Eventing and Show Jumping and has trained horses that have competed at the Olympics and World Championships.

Laurie Goodrich

is the Director of the Orthopedic Research Center at Colorado State University’s C. Wayne McIlwraith Translational Medicine Institute and an equine surgeon specializing in orthopedic surgery and lameness with a focus on musculoskeletal injuries and trauma. She is an American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS) Founding Fellow in Minimally Invasive Surgery, Equine Orthopedics. She received her DVM from the University of Illinois, completed an internship at Virginia Tech Regional College of Veterinary Medicine and an equine surgical residency at the Marion DuPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Northern Virginia. During that time, she also completed a Master of Science in Pharmacology at Virginia Tech. She joined the faculty at Cornell University as an Equine Surgeon in 1996 and also completed a PhD in cartilage repair in 2005 while at Cornell. She then began at CSU in 2005 as an Assistant Professor of Equine Surgery and is currently a Professor of Surgery and a principle investigator in the Orthopedic Research Center. She is a translational scientist whose research focuses on regenerative medicine, gene therapies and biologics to improve joint and bone repair in both animals and people. She has received the Elastikon Award in Research Excellence from the Grayson Jockey Club Research Foundation, the Cabaud Award in Research from AOSSM and CSU’s AAEP Clinician of the Year Award for teaching excellence. She is currently president of ACVS, on the Board of Directors for North American Veterinary Regenerative Medicine Association and, is the chair for the Preclinical Models Section of the Orthopedic Research Society.

Pat Harris

after qualifying from Cambridge University, she completed her Ph.D. at the Animal Health Trust into the Equine Rhabdomyolysis Syndrome. She joined the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition (now Waltham Petcare Science Institute) in 1995 where she worked for over 30 yrs. As Director of Science for Mars Horsecare and Head of the WALTHAM^TM Equine Studies Group, she was responsible for their equine research conducted in collaboration with experts at institutes and universities globally. This provides the science behind the SPILLERS™, BUCKEYE™ Nutrition, and WINERGY™ brands. In 2025 she became Nutrition and Science Advisor to Mars Horsecare and the Equine Studies Group. She is also a scientific advisor to MARS Equestrian^TM sponsorship. Pat is a European Specialist in Veterinary Clinical and Comparative Nutrition, an RCVS recognized specialist in veterinary clinical nutrition (equine), and a British Equine Veterinary Association Past-President. She is also a member of several international society and charity boards and holds, or has held, several academic posts within various institutions around the world. Pat lectures internationally on nutrition as it affects the health, welfare, behavior, and performance of the horse. She is the author or co-author of over 500 scientific papers, abstracts, and book chapters with recent emphasis on obesity, laminitis, and senior horse nutrition.

Pia Haubro

is Professor of Large Animal Surgery at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences at Uppsala. She performs experimental and clinical research in the large animal clinic, including retrospective studies on clinical efficacy, with an overall aim of developing effective surgical methods documented by objective clinical methods.

Kevin Haussler

graduated from The Ohio State University, College of Veterinary Medicine in 1988. He was trained in the conservative management of spinal-related disorders in humans at the Palmer College of Chiropractic-West and completed a veterinary chiropractic certification program in 1993. He attended the University of California-Davis to attain a PhD focusing on spinal pathology and pelvic biomechanics in Thoroughbred racehorses. Post-doctorate training involved evaluation of in-vivo spinal kinematics in horses at Cornell University. While at Cornell, he directed the newly formed Integrative Medicine Service which provided chiropractic, acupuncture and physical therapy services to both small and large animals. Kevin was Associate Professor at the Orthopedic Research Center at Colorado State University and involved in teaching, clinical duties, and research into the objective assessment of musculoskeletal pain, spinal dysfunction and the application of physical therapy and rehabilitation. Since 2024 he is an Associate Professor at Lincoln Memorial University in eastern Tennessee. He is a charter diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation and a course instructor for the Equine Rehabilitation Practitioner Certification course at the University of Tennessee.

Sabine Kästner

is Professor of Veterinary Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Foundation and Senior Vice President of the international Association of Veterinary Anesthetists (AVA). She is a diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia (ECVAA), a specialist veterinarian for horses as well as for anesthesiology, pain management and intensive care. As a founding member, she has been active since 2008 in the Initiative for Veterinary Pain Therapy (ITIS). The ITIS core group is made up of leading specialists in veterinary pain therapy. In addition to the core group, veterinary experts for the respective specialties are responsible for the recommendations for pain management in the various animal species.

Johan Lundblad

is a postdoctoral researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), specializing in equine pain assessment, stress responses, and clinical biomechanics. His research focuses on how stress and sedatives influence pain expression in horses, using advanced facial expression analysis (EquiFACS) to refine objective pain assessment methods. He also investigates movement asymmetries and lameness evaluation in young horses. A practicing veterinarian with expertise in orthopedics and emergency care, he teaches structural anatomy and supervises veterinary and animal science students.

Joao Paulo Marques

is certified in Animal Chiropractic (IVCA) as well as Veterinary Acupuncture (IVAS). Besides being an FEI Official Vet, he is a Certified Equine Rehabilitation Practitioner (CERP) by the University of Tennessee as well as an instructor of CERP in Europe and a past member of the Board of Directors of the Veterinary Rehabilitation and Physical Therapy (IAVRPT) and of the International Veterinary Chiropractic Association (IVCA). He was a member of the Equine Physiotherapy Team at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021 and at the World Equestrian Championships in Herning and Pratoni 2022, and Leader of the Equine Physiotherapy Team at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024.
Joao Paulo is Editor and co-author of the textbook “Essential Facts of Equine Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine”, published in 2024.

He was also former director at the Equine Rehabilitation Centre Hidrovet in Portugal and runs the equine veterinary practice Equidesporto.

Annamaria Nagy

is an Associate Professor at the University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, where she is leading the orthopedic diagnostics and diagnostic imaging department. Formerly, Annamaria was a senior clinician at the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket, UK. Annamaria is a Diplomate of the European and American Colleges of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation and holds an RCVS Fellowship Diploma and a PhD for her research on epidemiology of endurance rides. Her special interests lie in diagnosing complicated lameness and poor performance cases and in advanced orthopedic imaging, including MRI and standing CT. Annamaria has published over 40 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals and is regularly invited to speak at national and international meetings. Annamaria is an FEI level 4 endurance official and treating veterinarian and has also worked as a team veterinarian at European and World Championships.

Gemma Pearson

combines her time between research and outreach as Director of Equine Behavior at The Horse Trust and running a referral clinic for clinical equine behavior cases where she is based at the University of Edinburgh. She is also an accredited racecourse veterinary surgeon and enjoys working at Musselburgh racecourse.

After working in ambulatory practice Gemma moved to the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies where she completed a rotating residency program in the equine hospital, completing her Cert AVP (EM), alongside an MScR investigating horse veterinarian interactions.

Subsequently she completed her CCAB (certified clinical animal behaviorist) and her PhD thesis ‘Stress in equids undergoing veterinary care and the development of interventions that positively influence the horses’ experience’.  As well as continuing with her own research she supervises several students at PhD, MSc and undergraduate level.

In 2022 Gemma became the first person to become a species specific RCVS recognized specialist in Veterinary Behavioral Medicine (Equine) and was awarded Fellowship of the RCVS in 2024 for meritorious contributions to clinical practice.

Gemma is frequently invited to lecture internationally, as a recognized expert in this field and an excellent communicator. One of the most successful projects was filming a series of short YouTube videos with the British Equine Veterinary Association aiming to reduce injury rates when dealing with difficult horses under the ‘Don’t break your vet’ campaign.

Gemma is passionate about improving interactions between horses and people, specifically regarding the application of learning theory. In her spare time, she has competed up to advanced level endurance on a homebred horse as well as enjoying competing in affiliated dressage and eventing. Currently she is retraining a Thoroughbred recently retired from racing.