If you haven’t yet read the report by the 2007 Lameness Research Meeting and Panel, we’d suggest visiting the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Web site (www.aaep.org) and downloading a copy. The report includes some food for thought for everyone in the hoof-care industry — not only in its recommendations but in how they were arrived at.

The panel was organized by the AAEP Foundation Advisory Committee and brought together 24 research and lameness experts from around the world in Fort Collins, Colo., during August, with a goal of developing a direction for future research into equine lameness.

How The Panel Worked

The panel began its work with a series of 12 abstract presentations designed to update participants about the current thinking in key areas of research.

The abstracts were followed by a general roundtable discussion, in which individual panelists described their own ideas about areas where research was most needed. Laminitis was excluded from this discussion, as it was covered by an earlier AAEP Foundation panel.

The roundtable was in turn followed by breakout sessions in which panelists went into five more specific areas. Those areas included:

1. Joints, tendons and ligaments.
2. Kinetics and prevention.
3. Bone and foot.
4. Lameness, diagnosis and treatment.
5. Imaging.

Key Questions

Each group was asked to come up with the answer to three different questions:

A. What four areas of research in this area should have a priority for the next five years?

B. How should each of these areas be investigated and…