Peter D Rossdale, OBE, MA, PhD, Dr. (h.c.) Berne, Dr. (h.c.) Edinburgh, DVSc (h.c.) Sydney, DESM, FACVSc, FRCVS. 1927‐2021

Progress depends, therefore, on an aggregate, contributed by a high proportion of those involved, with an emphasis on collaborative efforts where possible (Rossdale, 2000) Authors without readers may be likened to a whale on a beach: devoid of the strength and purpose of their being. (Rossdale & Mayall, 2007) Peter Rossdale was first and foremost a clinician. He attained an honours degree in natural sciences from the University of Cambridge in 1949, then graduated from the Royal Veterinary College, London, became a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1952 and, after 2 years in Sussex, he took up a position as an equine practitioner in Newmarket where he remained for the remainder of his clinical career, retiring in 2004. He was awarded his Fellowship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1960 for work performed in practice describing the clinical features of the newborn foal, data which he published, unusually for a practitioner in those days, in a pair of papers in the British Veterinary Journal (Rossdale, 1967a, 1967b). This marked the start of a career as an author of clinical research which ultimately led to the publication of around 150 research papers based primarily on clinical data generated from his caseload and a further 100 or so editorial and educational articles relating to both clinical practice and academic publishing. Completing his portfolio of academic degrees, Peter gained the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge for his published work in the field of equine perinatology and reproductive biology in 1985. He also wrote and edited numerous veterinary textbooks, including Equine Stud Medicine, written with his partner, Sidney Ricketts; a textbook read by every undergraduate of the 1980s who aspired to a career with horses. However, Peter Rossdale’s massive and lasting impact on the equine veterinary profession of today lies in his vision, his commitment to the education of others and his drive towards improving standards in clinical practice. Yet, vision alone is not enough: implementation can be the bigger challenge and Peter had a unique ability to form collaborative groups and motivate them to work to improve equine clinical practice and turn his vision into reality. Peter was generous with his knowledge and he happily shared information and expertise with anyone and everyone willing to learn. This earned him the respect of both the veterinary profession and academia, recognised with additional honorary degrees from the Universities of Edinburgh, Berne and Sydney, honorary membership of British Equine Veterinary Association in 1978 and Honorary Fellowship of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists in 1975 and with numerous prizes and honours including the John Henry Steel Memorial Prize, the William Hunting Prize and the George Fleming Prize, the Tierklinik Hochmoor International Prize, the Dalrymple Champneys Prize and Cup, the Duke of Devonshire Award for contributions to the British Breeding Industry and the BEVA Equine Welfare Award. He was inducted into the University of Kentucky’s Equine Research Hall of Fame and received the Order of the British Empire for services to equine veterinary science. Peter lectured extensively and this included many inaugural lectures in the UK and abroad, including the Peter Wilson Bequest Lectureship in Edinburgh and in 1978, the D.L.T. Smith inaugural lectures in Saskatoon and the Frederick Hobday Lecture in the UK in 1985 (Rossdale, 1985) and cumulating with a comprehensive review of equine perinatal illness in his 2004 American Association of Equine Practitioners’ Milne Lecture, The Maladjusted Foal: Influences of Intrauterine Growth Retardation and Birth Trauma (Rossdale, 2004). Peter was amongst a small group of equine practitioners who, in the late 1950s, developed what ultimately became BEVA in 1961. He held the positions of Treasurer (1961–1962), Chairman of Programmes Committee (1973–1975) and President (1976). Arguably his most pivotal role for BEVA was as Editor of Equine Veterinary Journal (EVJ), a position he held from 1979 to 2010 and thereafter as EVJ’s Emeritus Editor. Peter was fascinated by the philosophy of science and indeed read extensively on scientific method, psychology and the process of decision making (Rossdale, 2009a). He believed ‘the duty of clinicians to publish is one which, in many respects, is as strong as that of the duty of care of the individual patient’(Rossdale, 2000). Core beliefs which Peter wrote on frequently was that research should seek to address clinically relevant questions and that cases seen in practice were a fruitful source of both pertinent questions and valuable data. He wrote a fascinating summary of these principles in an EVJ article published in 1975 in which he explained the fusion of clinician and researcher which characterised his entire career. In this article, he wrote ‘In any appraisal of the subject of research we must ask ourselves the question why is it interesting to find out. The clinician in equine practice is faced with a scarcity of clinical data on which to make a diagnosis. Clinical research can elevate the art of the clinician and contribute to the aggregate of knowledge within the profession’. In the same article, he went on to summarise the benefits of engaging in research which practitioners could access under the headings (1) more accurate diagnosis, (2) more satisfaction from work, (3) the currency of interests, summarising his appreciation of the benefits of working with others and (4) opportunity of travelling where he addressed his pleasure in being able to attend international meetings, share ideas with clinicians and researchers of like mind and gain transferrable knowledge of clinical approaches adopted elsewhere (Rossdale, 1975). We did not get to know Peter Rossdale personally until the 1990s, but these points, made 20 years earlier, describe his career-long ethos of working with others, from a private practice setting to gain and share knowledge to improve our ability to provide for the horses under our care. Peter’s first publication appeared in the Lancet, reporting seizures in newborn foals and drawing parallels with human neonatal illness (Mahaffey & Rossdale, 1959). This became the underpinning theme of much of his subsequent research effort. In addition to describing clinical findings and behaviour of foals (Rossdale, 1967b), he performed early work on electrocardiography (Rossdale, 1967a), blood gas analysis (Rossdale, 1968a; Rossdale & Mullen, 1970), ventilation parameters (Rossdale, 1969a) and indirect blood pressure measurement (Franco et al., 1986). He reported neurological signs in compromised neonates (Mahaffey & Rossdale, 1959; Rossdale, 1968b, 1969b) and by the 1970s, Peter proposed a classification of differential diagnosis of the collapsed neonate differentiating (1) infection, (2) non-infective behavioural disturbance, (3) failure of development and (4) immunological conditions (Rossdale, 1972). To the modern reader, these classifications are somewhat descriptive. Nevertheless, they are accurate precursors to what we would currently think of as sepsis, neonatal maladjustment syndrome/perinatal asphyxia syndrome/hypoxic-ischaemic-encephalopathy and haemolytic disease of the newborn, terminology which continues to evolve as our understanding of pathogenic mechanisms develop. True to his ethos that research should be applicable to practice, Peter’s interest in the clinical challenge of managing foals with neurological and developmental problems, led him to join forces with researchers at the University of Cambridge working on physiology and pathophysiology, and Peter’s work with Dr Marian Silver’s group enhanced understanding of equine fetal physiology and, in particular, the importance of adrenal function and steroid hormones (Broughton Pipkin et al., 1984; Challis et al., 1995; Fowden et al., 1984; Han et al., 1995a; Ousey et al., 1987, 1998, 2004; Rossdale et al., 1984; Silver et al., 1984, 1987). The Cambridge group’s work on progesterone profiles in the pregnant mare (Holtan et al., 1991; Rossdale et al., 1992), steroid hormone production in the placenta (Han et al., 1995b) and the effects of placental pathology on maternal plasma progestogens (Rossdale et al., 1991) ultimately paved the way to our understanding that progesterone may mediate neurological signs in neonatal maladjustment (Ousey et al., 2005; Rossdale et al., 1995). Peter led a team working on in vivo studies of normal and abnormal fetal development based on a pony research herd in Newmarket which advanced our understanding of prematurity and dysmaturity (Rossdale, 1993; Rossdale et al., 1985) and on induction of parturition (Leadon et al., 1986). In parallel with this basic research on fetal and neonatal pathophysiology, Peter continued to have a strong focus on developing and validating techniques which had immediate relevance to clinical practice, exemplified by his work on use of mammary secretions to assess fetal readiness for birth (Leadon et al., 1984; Ousey et al., 1984, 1989). Throughout his career as a researcher, he continued to ensure that knowledge gained in the research laboratory informed clinical practice, for example, in his review of disturbances in equine fetal maturation which was included in a 1993 EVJ supplement on perinatology research, he sought to make sense of the link between placental pathology and dysmaturity and explain the phenomenon he called ‘the second day syndrome’ whereby foals compromised in utero may progressively develop clinical signs relating to dysmaturity, respiratory compromise and neurological dysfunction having appeared at birth to be fairly healthy (Rossdale, 1993). Peter’s interest in the Thoroughbred was not limited to the foal. His clinical practice led him to spend much of his time on the coalface of the Newmarket Thoroughbred breeding farms. He published extensively on aspects of problems and management of the broodmare (Allen et al., 1987; Chandley et al., 1975; McGladdery & Rossdale, 1992a, 1992b; Michel et al., 1986; Pemberton et al., 1994; Rossdale, 1984, 1994; Rossdale & D'Eath, 1987; Rossdale & Gerber, 1968; Rossdale et al., 1976; Samuel et al., 1979; Steven et al., 1979) and horse in training (Frauenfelder et al., 1986; Harris et al., 1990; Jeffcott et al., 1982), infectious diseases (Browning et al., 1991; Jeffcott & Rossdale, 1976, 1977; Mumford & Rossdale, 1980; Mumford et al., 1987; Pepys et al., 1989; Ricketts & Rossdale, 1979; Ricketts et al., 1977, 1978; Rose et al., 1974; Rossdale, 1978; Stoneham et al., 2001), heart disease (Cottrill & Rossdale, 1992; MacDonald et al., 1988), clinical nutrition (Ousey et al., 1997) and sales assessment, (McEvoy et al., 1998) and he thought and wrote extensively on how early life and veterinary management might impact performance of the finished product, the racehorse (Allen et al., 2002; Rossdale, 1998, 2005). Returning to Peter’s approach to the role of Editor, he saw EVJ as serving as a conduit between clinicians in practice and those who wish to contribute new knowledge for the benefit of the horse (Rossdale et al., 2008). To ensure that equine practitioners could remain entirely up to date with progress in their field, under Peter’s leadership EVJ not only published primary research and clinical reports but also provided EVJ’s readers with access to recent and ongoing work through supplementary issues linked to groups such as the International Conference for Equine Exercise Physiology, the International Symposium on Equine Embryo Transfer, the International Congress on Equine Clinical Behaviour, the International Colic Symposium and the International Workshop on Animal Locomotion. Peter also worked closely with those organising meetings with the Havermeyer Foundation to disseminate state-of-the-art knowledge on equine diseases. Peter was consistently innovative throughout his long tenure with Equine Veterinary Journals. He was not EVJ’s first editor, this honour falling to Col John Hickman and then Leo Jeffcott succeeded him before Peter took on this challenge in 1979. However, Peter was undoubtedly its most influential. Under Peter’s watch, EVJ evolved into the leading international journal for equine veterinary science and it performed consistently well in the citation indices for veterinary sciences. His life-long belief in the importance of practice-generated research was more widely articulated by the evidence-based medicine (EBM) movement of the 2000s, although it clearly amused him greatly that this discipline was extolled, by some more passionate adherents, as a novel approach to practice. Peter had been talking, and writing, about exactly the same principles for almost 50 years by that time (Rossdale, 1975). Nevertheless, he saw the enthusiasm for EBM amongst younger clinicians of the day as an opportunity to promote his belief in the clinic as a laboratory, and in 2003, he established EVJ’s evidence-based medicine group and began prioritising rapid publication of articles that achieved specific EBM-related criteria including a clearly defined clinical question in studies addressing naturally occurring disease and providing strong clinical evidence to define outcomes relating to specific therapeutic or diagnostic interventions and/or refined prognostic indicators (Rossdale, 2009b; Rossdale et al., 2003). He embraced developments in scientific publishing with interest and enthusiasm; when aged almost 80 years, he pushed forwards the introduction of online publishing (Rossdale, 2010) for EVJ, although the inclusion of fast track and early view papers that were enabled by online publishing removed the main author benefit of the EBM series. Peter Rossdale (right) and Gary Carpenter (executive director of the American Association of Equine Practitioners) (left) signing the agreement between BEVA and AAEP to publish EVE content jointly in Newmarket in 1999. Peter was committed to veterinary education at all levels. He recognised that a scientific journal created a key archive of data to support change in practice, but there was an additional need to help support learning within the profession. To meet this need, he established Equine Veterinary Education (EVE) in 1989, pointing out, in EVE’s first editorial that ‘Practitioners cannot afford to leave education at the gateway of graduation for fear of becoming old-fashioned and redundant’ (Gerring et al., 1989). By engaging the support of both BEVA and AAEP for EVE and by ensuring that motivated younger colleagues took on the challenge of editing and contributing to EVE, Peter was able to rapidly develop the journal into the most important education journal for equine practitioners in existence, combining both novel case reports with authoritative clinical commentaries and review articles which are essential reading for every practitioner who seeks to keep up to date with developments in the field. Every equine clinician who has practised since the 1960s owes Peter Rossdale a debt of gratitude. His recognition that practice must be based on science and that science has a central place in daily clinical practice, his vision and drive to improve the world he found himself in, and his ability to motivate others to help him implement that vision has created a legacy in the form of the two journals he was instrumental in developing, Equine Veterinary Journal and Equine Veterinary Education that look set to continue to have a central role in equine practice long beyond Peter’s retirement. It is all the more surprising to consider that he did this in his spare time, in parallel with a busy and successful career as a Thoroughbred practitioner and clinical researcher. As Peter’s successors as editors of the two journals that he did so much to establish and develop, we looked to him for inspiration, guidance and advice. This brief summary of his achievements seems hopelessly inadequate in the light of his contributions to equine veterinary science, but the plethora of awards, prizes and honours he received during his lifetime confirm that the veterinary profession has and will continue to recognise his huge influence and importance.

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