Horse breeding will come under the spotlight at the National Equine Forum event on March 6.

Industry event comes as thousands of horse at risk in UK

Horse breeding will be debated with equine charities and the owner of the UK's largest abattoir at a national event early next month.

The National Equine Forum (NEF) will be raising the question of whether horses should be bred, at the event on March 6.

Thousands of horses are at risk of neglect or abandonment in the UK.

The reasons for this will be discussed by Roly Owers, chief executive of World Horse Welfare, whose latest set of figures found 7,000 horses at risk.

Nic de Brauere, chairman of the National Equine Welfare Council, and head of welfare, education and rehabilitation at Redwings Horse Sanctuary, will talk about what lies in store for these horses.

The debate will  hear from Stephen Potter of Potters Abattoir about the role of the horsemeat industry in contributing to equine welfare standards.

This year's programme will also include from Paul Bittar, chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Owen Paterson MP, and Jan Rogers, head of equine development at the British Equestrian Federation (BEF), on the role of the equine database.

Sonke Lauterbach, secretary general and chief executive of the German Equestrian Federation, will speak on the challenges facing horses in the 21st century, while Ingmar de Vos, secretary general of The International Equestrian Federation (FEI) will talk about the global growth of horse sport.

President of NEF, The Princes Royal, will be attending the debate.

The event, which takes place at The Institution of Mechanical Engineers in London, will also feature a chance to network.

A full programme is available to download at www.bef.co.uk.

For tickets details email teallen@warkscol.ac.uk