The American Association of Equine Practitioners’ Foundation found itself in receipt of an intriguing grant application earlier in 2006. The grant was to help fund a continuing education program thousands of miles away in Mongolia. After reviewing the grant, the Foundation funded this year’s “Fast Horse Seminar” organized through the Christian Veterinary Mission (CVM) as a worthy cause.

AAEP member Dr. Tom Juergens, along with Mongolia V.E.T. Net, a Mongolian Christian Veterinary group, held the 7th annual Fast Horse Seminar in Ulaan, Baatar, Mongolia, June 28-July 1. The seminar was initiated by Juergens, founder of Anoka Equine Veterinary Services in Elk River, Minn., and AAEP member Dr. Johnny Haffner, head of Equine Services at Middle Tennessee State University in the summer of 2000.

Mongolia is a country of horses and horsemen. Horses are a vital part of the nomadic herdsman’s life and the culture of the entire country. The horses are used for herding, transportation, milking, and distance racing. Each year Mongolian children between the ages of six and 12 participate in the horses racing at their national festival, Naadam. The Khans initiated these races in 1250 to test their notorious mounted soldiers. However, due to the lack of knowledge of conditioning, nutrition, and dehydration, many horses have suffered substantial injuries during the race and some even died soon after the race.

Mongolian veterinary education is a five-year program with very little emphasis on modern veterinary medicine and no hands-on experience during veterinary school. Dr. Gerald Mitchum, and American veterinarian in Mongolia since 1996, recognized the need for quality, modern veterinary education and solicited help from U.S. equine practitioners through the Christian Veterinary Mission in Seattle, Wash. Juergens and Haffner answered the call along with University of California, Davis, veterinary student Katherine Szabo