On 23rd September 2010, I flew to Sao Paulo and then on to Recife to speak at the ABRAVEQ North-eastern Brazil seminar. Porto Galinhas, literally the port of chickens, refers to darker times in the 18th and 19th century, when the town was the Brazilian centre for the African slave trade. Slaves (known in local slang as "chickens") were shipped in their thousands to this port. Rather sinisterly, the chicken has become the emblem of the town and you can buy colourful models from many of the shops in what has essentially become a beach-side tourist town, just south of the Equator.

The meeting was based in a conference centre attached to the Hotel Armacao. Almost 400 delegates from all over Brazil, of which about 30% were veterinary students, attended a two tier programme covering a variety of practical equine topics, including reproduction, neonatology, ophthalmology, colic, metabolic problems and surgery.

My presentations were surgically based and the other invited foreign speaker was Dr Ramiro Toribio, a Panamanian equine medicine specialist working at the Ohio State University in the USA, who spoke on neonatology. There were also a number of excellent Brazilian speakers as well as a large poster display to which many university clinical groups around Brazil had contributed. A large commercial exhibition completed the meeting. Our host was the President of ABRAVEQ, Dr Silvio Piotto, who was a typically generous Brazilian host; the local regional President Dr Helio Manso, was also very kind and picked me up from Recife Airport after a very long journey from Newmarket.

Brazilian veterinary audiences are amongst the most enthusiastic in the world, as was clearly illustrated during WEVA Congress in Guaruja last year. They are hungry for information and with more than 150 veterinary schools in Brazil, producing thousands of graduates every year, there are many potential delegates for ABRAVEQ`s well organised continuing education programme.

ABRAVEQ have become major supporters of WEVA and South America is part of a continent which has always been of great importance in WEVA`s mission of helping to promote continuing education in the developing equine veterinary world. There are a large number of equids in Brazil and almost all equestrian disciplines can be found in this massive country as well as a large number of working equids, which for a significant proportion of the rural poor form an integral part of daily life. In the area around Recife and Porto Galinhas, thousands of hectares are devoted to the cultivation of cane sugar. These cane covered hillsides are traditionally and very efficiently served by working mules and donkeys, rather than by tractors or other mechanised equipment.

Brazilians have a well deserved reputation for hosting great parties and both men and women dance in a magical way, moving almost like silky liquid chocolate. I am afraid your correspondent was yet again found wanting in this activity. The beautiful sandy, coconut palm tree-lined beach also provided a memorable backdrop to the meeting. The local sea food was also of the highest quality and with the caiparinhas and the wonderful hospitality will remain long in my memory.

Tim Greet

I am delighted that WEVA's biennial congress in 2011 will be held in India and particularly in the historic city of Hyderabad. The meeting is to be held in a state of the art conference centre which boasts amongst the very best audiovisual facilities in the subcontinent. Hyderabad is also an ideal base from which to travel onwards to take in some of the unique sights of India, before or after the meeting.

Next year has been designated World Veterinary Year, celebrating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the first veterinary school in Lyons, France; the birth of the modern veterinary profession. WEVA's biennial congress will definitely be the international highlight of this auspicious occasion. We are very fortunate to have attracted some of the best known speakers in the equine veterinary world and the programme is packed full of topics which have been specifically designed to suit the needs of equine practitioners, no matter what their area of interest. Internationally recognised names such as Brooks, Curtis, Denoix, Dyson, Frisbie, Hunt, Knottenbelt, LeBlanc, O'Grady, Robinson, Reed, Samper and Walmsley have already been recruited. There will also be a section of the programme devoted specifically to equine welfare and a day orientated for interested lay people.

Those of you who have been with us at recent congresses eg Marrakech, Moscow, Guaruja (Sao Paulo), will know that delegates can not only expect continuing educational material of the highest quality but also international camaraderie and a social programme to match. India provides fascinating and unique sights and sounds and a visit here is guaranteed to live long in the memory.

I urge anyone who has an interest in equine veterinary medicine and a desire to travel to one of the most exhilarating countries in the world, to put 2nd - 6th November 2011 firmly in your diary, to ensure the experience of a lifetime.

I very much look forward to seeing you there.

Tim Greet

Having just taken over the WEVA presidential baton from Dr Gary Norwood and arrived home after arguably the most successful WEVA Congress ever, you might think that the current WEVA Board and Officers would be able to rest on their laurels for a while. The Brazilians organised a fantastic conference more or less on the beach at Guaruja just south of Sao Paulo, with over 1100 veterinary delegates from around the World. We all enjoyed fabulous Brazilian hospitality and had an action packed scientific programme with 108 papers presented by 33 internationally recognised invited speakers and 84 scientific papers given by scientists and clinicians who had submitted abstracts accepted for presentation. We also elected a Junior Vice-president, Dr Ravi Reddy from India, who will hopefully follow me in the job. Equally importantly, we have decided that our next biennial conference will be held in Hyderabad, India, between the 2nd and 6th November, 2011.

The congress committee is setting about making the necessary plans to ensure that the Hyderabad meeting will be as successful as that in Brazil. Added to that, we have organised an intermediate meeting in Hungary at Debrecen on May 28th and 29th, 2010 and there is the possibility of another intermediate meeting in Thailand.

WEVA has taken every opportunity to enroll as many national equine veterinary associations from around the World, in order that we can truly be said to represent the profession globally; at the last count there were 29 national equine veterinary member associations, spanning all the continents. Our aim is to continue to help underwrite regional meetings and with the support of the more established and wealthier national associations to encourage the less developed ones to create better continuing education programmes. There is a huge amount of goodwill in the profession to provide this sort of support. By improving the education of veterinary surgeons in countries which have an important equine industry but not necessarily the traditional equine veterinary expertise, WEVA can genuinely contribute to improving equine welfare in a very practical way.