Surrey’s School of Veterinary Medicine and The British Horse Society launch new educational resource designed by third-year student

The aim of the new resource is to provide advice and support to horse owners and carers on minimising risks of this painful and potentially severe condition, which has become one of the most common emergency call outs for equine vets.

Third-year veterinary students at the University were challenged to produce evidence-based infographics, with a final design being chosen by two external judges; Dr Jane Nixon and Professor Sarah Freeman.

The judges were both unanimous with the winning design by Suzie Bedford, who created the acronym ‘FRESH’ to highlight the different steps horse owners can take to help prevent colic. Suzie’s winning design, Think FRESH to help prevent colic, will now be used as an educational resource by the BHS.

Dr Teresa Hollands, Senior Teaching Fellow in Veterinary Nutrition at the University of Surrey, said: “The exciting, collaborative partnership between the University’s School of Veterinary Medicine and the BHS that has provided a great opportunity for students to unleash their creativity whilst also raising awareness of colic in horses. We are delighted that Suzie’s ‘Think FRESH’ design is to be used as an educational resource by the BHS.”

The BHS Stewart Hastie Veterinary Student Champion scheme was launched in partnership with the University of Surrey’s School of Veterinary Medicine in 2016 to forge a link between veterinary students, horse owners and the work of The British Horse Society.

The scheme is named in memory of Stewart Hastie, who wrote two editions of The BHS Veterinary Manual and received a BHS Award of Merit for Welfare and Training following a significant contribution to the equine and veterinary industry over many decades.