Paul René van Weeren (1957) graduated in 1983 from the Utrecht University Veterinary Faculty. He obtained his PhD degree in 1989. From 1991-1993 he worked as a visiting professor at the Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria of the Universidad Nacional in Heredia, Costa Rica. He became a diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1994 and was appointed to the Chair of Equine Musculoskeletal Biology in 2007. From then until his retirement in 2024 he was mainly involved in research with focus areas articular cartilage and biomechanics / equine gait analysis. He was Head of the Department of Equine Sciences and later Clinical Sciences of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht University from 2012-2024. Currently he is still involved in supervising PhD students.
He has been a member of the editorial board of The Veterinary Journal from 2011 to 2021 and has been working for Equine Veterinary Journal in the roles of member of the editorial advisory board, deputy editor and associate editor from 2001-2020. He was awarded the honorary membership of the British Equine Veterinary Association in 2023.
He has been a supervisor of 42 PhD students, currently supervising 11. He is (co-)author of more than 375 peer-reviewed scientific publications and has contributed to 20 chapters in a variety of textbooks. He is one of the editors of the 2nd edition of Joint Disease in the Horse.
PREVENTION OF IJURIES IN EQUINE SPORTS MEDICINE
René van Weeren DVM PhD Dipl ECVS
Em. Professor of Equine Musculoskeletal Biology, Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
The horse is one of the rare species that has been domesticated because of its powerful locomotor system and not for a tangible product like milk or meat. After serving humankind for more than six millennia in warfare, transport and agriculture, the species lost all these traditional roles in the 20th century because of the mechanization of society. However, the animal made a glorious comeback as a sports and leisure animal, again thanks to its athletic capacities. It is not surprising, therefore, that the main reason of occupational disability and wastage in horses are disorders of the musculoskeletal (MSK) system.
The role of the entire MSK system is almost exclusively biomechanical and the balance between loading and carrying capacity is key. The four principal components of the system, muscles, bones, tendon and ligaments, and articular cartilage react differently to loading and are hugely different in their regenerative capacity after injury. Where muscles and bone can repair fully in a functional sense, this is in mature individuals hardly possible for energy-storing tendons and not at all for cartilage, making prevention in these tissues more important than any form of therapy.
For the development of effective preventive measures, knowledge of the development of the MSK system and the effect of loading in young individuals is necessary for the optimal conditioning of the tissues for the athletic activities that will be required later in life. Also, insight is needed in risks created by specific equestrian disciplines such as racing, show jumping and dressage.
