Dr Sue Dyson
Sue Dyson has been a lifelong rider, starting by spending as many of her waking hours as possible at the local riding school and then graduating to being a pony owner, a trainer of ponies and a competitor, gaining the Pony Club A certificate and competing at the Pony Club national championships.
She has produced horses from novice to top national level in both eventing and show jumping, including horses that went on to compete successfully internationally, McGinty (right) winning the European Junior Showjumping Championships twice, Kinvarra jumping clear cross-country at two Olympic Games, a World Championships and winning Punchestown, and Otterburn competing at the World Equestrian Games at 8 years of age.
Biography
Sue holds the Instructors and Stable Managers Certificates of the British Horse Society (BHSI). She has worked for dealers and trainers and has learned by observation, listening and self-motivation. Her personal experience with challenging horses and those with underlying physical problems has given her great insight into factors that influence a horse’s athletic ability and trainability.
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After an internship at the University of Pennsylvania, through the generosity of a Thouron Scholarship, and a year in private equine practice in Pennsylvania, Sue returned to Great Britain to the Animal Health Trust, Newmarket. There she ran a clinical referral service for lameness and poor performance, attracting clients from all over the United Kingdom, Ireland and continental Europe for 37 years.
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From 2019 she has worked as an independent consultant, combining her horsemanship skills with her previous veterinary experience, with the aim of maximising performance potential.
Sue’s key interests are improving the diagnosis of lameness and poor performance and maximising the opportunity for horses to fulfil their athletic potential at whatever level, taking a holistic approach to the horse, rider and tack combination, and improving approaches to diagnosis and management. She has been involved not only in providing clinical services, but also clinically relevant research and education.
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Sue is co-editor, with Mike Ross, of Diagnosis and Management of Lameness in the Horse and co-author of Clinical Radiology of the Horse and Equine Scintigraphy. She has published more than 400 papers in peer reviewed journals concerning lameness and diagnostic imaging and has lectured worldwide to veterinarians, paraprofessionals, coaches, riders and judges.
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Sue is a former President of the British Equine Veterinary Association and is currently scientific advisor to the Saddle Research Trust and Moorcroft Rehabilitation Centre.
She has received many professional accolades reflecting her contributions to knowledge:
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Honorary membership of the British Equine Veterinary Association
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Honorary association membership of the European College of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging
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Richard Hartley Clinical Prize (Awarded by the Equine Veterinary Journal for the best paper with direct clinical application, submitted by an author normally resident in the United Kingdom, published in the preceding 12 months)
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John Hickman Award (Awarded by the Equine Veterinary Journal and British Equine Veterinary Association for outstanding contributions to equine orthopaedics)
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Association of American Publishers award for excellence in professional scholarly publishing for ‘Diagnosis & management of lameness in the horse’ in the Nursing & Allied Health Division
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Co-recipient of the Home of Rest Clinical Evidence Literary Prize, Equine Veterinary Journal
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Tierklinik Hochmoor Prize for outstanding, creative and lasting work in equine veterinary medicine
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Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Share Jones Lecture in Veterinary Anatomy
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International Veterinary Radiology Association J. Kevin Kealy Award
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Co-recipient of the BEVA Congress 2012 Voorjaarsdagen Award for the best clinical research presentation (Saddle slip may be an indicator of hindlimb lameness)
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Inductee of the International Equine Veterinarians Hall of Fame (sponsored by the American Farriers Journal) for contributions to hoof care and lameness research
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Animal Health Trust UK Equestrian Awards Veterinary Achievement Award
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American Association of Equine Practitioners Frank J. Milne Award
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Honorary Membership of Societa Italiana Veterinari Per Equini (SIVE), Italy
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Inductee of the University of Kentucky Equine Research Hall of Fame for outstanding contributions to research in equine veterinary science
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Freeman Scholar, Michigan State University for recognition of elite contributions to learning
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The Saddle Research Trust Welfare and Performance Practitioner Award
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British Equine Veterinary Association 60th anniversary nomination for inspiring, developing and advancing the equine veterinary profession
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10th International Equus Film and Arts Festival, Sacramento, USA. Best educational film for ‘The 24 behaviors of the ridden horse in pain: Shifting the paradigm of how we see lameness’