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Free equine nutrition course launched
Online course attracts 10,000 participants

University of Edinburgh's Royal Dick School of Veterinary Studies has announced a new five-week equine nutrition course.

Lasting for five weeks the course will cover many aspects of equine nutrition, such as anatomy and physiology of the gastrointestinal tract, and the dietary management of horses and ponies affected by nutrition-related disorders. 10,000 people have already signed up for the course, which begins at the end of the month.

This course forms part of the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) which are delivered via the Coursera partnership, a network of leading international universities which offer short undergraduate level online courses for free. The initiative will give participants a taste of higher education for free.

The Royal Dick School is the first Vet School to launch a course as part of this programme. The University of Edinburgh is also the first in the UK to join the Coursera initiative, and are offering six courses in total.

"Students who participate in these free online taster courses at the University of Edinburgh will have access to an array of quality materials provided by world class academics who are leaders in their field." says Dr Jo-Anne Murray, director of taught postgraduate programmes and e-learning at Royal Dick School of Veterinary Studies.

Across 43 courses, more than 1.5 million people have enrolled on courses associated with Coursera. The participating universities have taught more than 650,000 students from 190 countries.

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Equine Disease Surveillance report released for Q4 2025

News Story 1
 The latest Equine Disease Surveillance report has been released, with details on equine disease from Q4 of 2025.

The report, produced by Equine Infectious Disease Surveillance, includes advice on rule changes for equine influenza vaccination.

Statistics and maps detail recent outbreaks of equine herpes virus, equine influenza, equine strangles and equine grass sickness. A series of laboratory reports provides data on virology, bacteriology, parasitology and toxicosis.

This issue also features a case study of orthoflavivus-associated neurological disease in a horse in the UK. 

Click here for more...
News Shorts
NSA webinar explores sheep tailing and castration

The National Sheep Association (NSA) is to host a free webinar on the castration and tail docking of lambs.

The webinar, 'Understanding the tailing and castration consultation: A guide for sheep farmers', will be hosted online on Monday, 2 March 2026 at 7.30pm.

It comes during a government consultation into the methods used for these procedures. Farmers are encouraged to engage before the consultation period closes on Monday, 9 March 2026.

The webinar offers clear and actionable guidance to support farmers to contribute meaningfully to the consultation and prepare for potential changes.

On the panel will be former SVS president Kate Hovers, farmer and vet Ann Van Eetvelt and SRUC professor in Animal Health and Veterinary Sciences Cathy Dwyer. Each panel member will utilise their own specialism and expertise to evaluate risks and outcomes to sheep farming.

Find out more about the webinar on the NSA website.