Last week, Professor Richard Payne delivered the first of the Greyhound Board of Great Britain’s 2026 CPD sessions. His webinar focused on the musculoskeletal adaptations which greyhounds have, making them built for running.

Dr Payne opened the session with a discussion on the adaptations seen in all running animals – from gazelles to cheetahs – and how these adaptations appear in greyhounds and other sighthounds. He then went on to discuss how, even where anatomy may differ between animals, the same biomechanical outcomes can be reached, with a focus on how this appears in racing greyhounds.

The session was attended live by licence holders from all sides of the sport – from track vets and racecourse staff to trainers and kennelhands. Several of those who attended the webinar gave highly complimentary feedback on the event.

Adrian Smith-Pope, Hove Racing Office Assistant, said of the session:

“Once again, Dr. Richard Payne generously shared his knowledge with webinar attendees for those responsible for the care of racing greyhounds. The explanation of both the ‘locomotion’ of the racing greyhound and ‘G-Forces’ produced by a greyhound racing round a bend with a camber, are fascinating points to take away from this webinar to share with colleagues. I always strongly recommend GBGB license holders attend these events as every webinar is extremely enlightening.”

Jason Smith, a Professional Greyhound Trainer who joined the webinar, said:

“I always enjoy these webinars because Richard gives clear examples of the issues being discussed.  There has been a significant and important increase in welfare standards in recent times and this is because of being proactive rather than reactive and sharing insights that can help constantly improve how we operate. That can only be good for the sport on the whole.”

Meriel France, Learning and Development Manager for GBGB, said:

“It was brilliant to see licence holders from across the sport attending Professor Richard Payne’s first webinar of the year. It was a highly engaging session which offered an interesting perspective on what makes our greyhounds such fantastic athletes.

“We have many more CPD sessions lined up this year – from practical training days to educational webinars – and we would encourage all licence holders to attend when they can.”

A recording of Professor Richard Payne’s webinar, Greyhound Musculoskeletal Adaptations, is available for all licence holders to view on their relevant GBGB Portals.