After a successful summer workshop my task was to deliver yet another training to Cambodian village veterinarians and focus on topics that participants felt to be particularly important to them. Together with Siraya Chunekamrai – a veterinarian from Thailand and strong supporter of the CPWO – and Rinda Nop – chief veterinarian of CPWO – the program was finalized and 20 veterinarians from all over the country were welcomed to the five day workshop.

Two days of interactive lectures and a wet lab on wound management and its complications were followed by a field trip to a local horse farm where a number of patients with chronic wounds and neurologic disease were examined and treatment options were discussed.

Fecal and blood samples were collected for further analysis by in the nearby Faculty of Agricultural Sciences’ laboratory. Workshop participants were able to practice intestinal parasite egg identification and search for protozoal parasites in blood smears.

The day in the field was followed by another series of lectures on parasitology, tetanus and common infectious diseases, the last day was reserved for an interactive question and answer session and a feedback analysis to identify important issues that should be adressed in the future. Finally every participant received a certificate and upon farewell everyone was eager to hopefully hear about any future opportunities for professional development.

The course participants showed incredible enthusiasm to learn during the 5 days – Rinda Nop and his assistant Yoki acted as translators and facilitators of every day transport, including the use oft he CPWO 4×4 SUV and a number of ever so common Cambodian mopeds.
Cambodia has an estimated population of 9000 equids – mostly working ponies and a small number of horses in riding stables for tourists and the few better off Cambodians that can afford pleasure riding activities. One must bear in mind though that the majority of ponies has to earn a living by hard work. Horsemansship amongst owners is poorly developed and veterinarians face numerous challenges including lack of understanding by horse owners, hard to handle animals and financial restraints. The predominat number of male horses is not castrated, both due to unwillingness of horse owners to „weaken“ the animal, the limited training of village vets to perform the procedure and – again – the cost to the owner. Stallion behavior paired with a lack of horsemanship commonly leads to traumatic injuries that – when not or only poorly treated – will cause chronic and even harder to treat wounds.

To date veterinary training for Cambodians consists of a four year curriculum at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences in Phnom Penh. Although training includes lectures on health aspects of a number of species (small animals such as dogs and cats, production animals such as poultry, swine and cattle), hardly any information is passed on about husbandry or veterinary care of horses. Village vets have to get their equine training through time spent with vets from organizations like CPWO, travel abroad (which is expensive) or self study through the internet. Workshops like the one organized by World Horse Welfare and supported by the BEVA Trust for sure play an important role in raising standards of veterinray care for horses and thereby improving horse welfare in developing countries.