28/07/2018

9th EEHNC: Small Things

 

“For the great doesn’t happen through impulse alone, and is a succession of little things that are brought together” (Vincent van Gogh, Letter to Theo, October 1882).

Knowledge about “Small things” is key to the understanding how nutrition can affect the health of the equine athlete. The understanding of one small thing may provide insight into many things. Bacteria, funghi, nutrients, genes, toxins and dust in feed are all “small things” that could affect or interact with the health of the equine athlete. A series of “small things” related to nutrition & health was therefore addressed in the 9th EEHNC programme.

Inspiration for the 9th EEHNC theme “Small things” originated from various quotes of Vincent van Gogh related to the small things in his life and work and letters. In addition, although Vincent van Gogh was not an equine nutritionist, he did study “the effect of oil in horses”. Of course, this study was done from a painter’s perspective. Van Gogh used a small plaster model of a horse for his “study in oils” when he was studying at the Antwerp art academy (picture). Vincent van Gogh  painted the little horse on cardboard (picture) instead of canvas, because that was much cheaper. As the EEHNC is traditionally held in Belgium or the Netherlands, the strong association of the quotes related to “small things” and the “Horse” painting of Vincent van Gogh with the Netherlands and Belgium inspired the EEHNC organization to this theme.

Find the complete congress programme in our congress proceedings, or PDF extracts of those proceedings (both available through the login section of our website).

Check out the press & media section of the website for a photo impression and press releases about the last EEHNC.

The EEHNC would like to thank all of the delegates and speakers who attended the 9th EEHNC. We hope everyone had a great learning experience.

We would also like to thank our sponsors and partners for their contiuing support to the congress - without them it would simply not be possible to organise such a large event.
We would also like to thank the City and Province of Utrecht for their more than generous support in organising the congress in this wonderful city.

We hope to see you for our next (10th!) edition!


Horse, Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation);  Picture used with permission.

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