FROM THE EDITOR

Lazy Days of Summer

I’m not sure where the old saying “lazy daysof summer” came from. Everyone to whom Italk appears to be busy year-round and don’treally experience any “lazy days of summer.” Iknow that my broodmare practitioner col-leagues certainly look forward to July andAugust, since the breeding season is over and, ifthey have any time for vacation or to attendmeetings, it generally is during July and August.

One of the summer meetings that I amlooking forward to is the Ninth InternationalSymposium on Equine Reproduction (ISER).The venue for the ISER meeting this year isHolland and will be hosted by the equinegroup at Utrecht University, headed by Drs.Tom Stout and Ben Colenbrander. The first ofthis series of international symposia, which areheld every 4 years, took place in Cambridge,England in 1974. Subsequent ISER Symposiawere held in Davis, CA; Sydney, Australia;Calgary, Canada; Deauville, France; Caxambu,Brazil; Pretoria, South Africa; and Fort Collins,CO. There are fewer than 12 of us who havehad the privilege of presenting at all of theseinternational symposia.

The ninth ISER will be attended by repro-ductive scientists and veterinarians fromaround the world. The six-day meeting com-prises invited presentations on the stallion,non-pregnant mare, pregnant mare, gametes,and early conception. In addition, severalworkshops will be held during the evenings,allowing for further practical discussions onequine reproduction issues. Prior to the sym-posium, a one-day seminar will be held forpractitioners. The organizing committee hasenticed some of the ISER attendees to comea day early to speak to the European vetswho will attend this meeting.

By the end of the week, one should have apretty good idea of the status of research inequine reproduction, as well as any new trendsin clinical treatments. Abstracts of the papers tobe presented are already available on the inter-net under “Papers in Press” for the journalAnimal Reproduction Science. Anyone seri-ously interested in staying up to date in equinereproduction will want to obtain a copy of thesepapers and abstracts. I will be providing a meet-ing report in the Journal of Equine VeterinaryScience after my return from Holland.

Other equine veterinarians may be attend-ing the American Veterinary MedicalAssociation meeting to be held in Hawaiiduring July, or the Society for Theriogenologymeeting coming up in St. Paul, MN, August 23through 26. Others may decide to forgo anymeetings, accompany the family on a familyvacation, and try to forget about their busyschedule for at least a week or so before hav-ing to start up again in the fall or the nextbreeding season.

Ed Squires, Editor

338 Journal of Equine Veterinary Science August 2006