Equine Team

Andrew is a local lad- being born and raised on a local dairy farm. Other than spending one year practicing in the UK Andrew has been with RVC since graduating in 2004, and became a partner in 2011. Andrew's main areas of clinical interest are in equine internal medicine and in particular breeding and artificial reproduction techniques.  Outside of work he enjoys spending time with his two children on their lifestyle block in Fernside as well as motorbike riding, water/snow skiing, and multisports.

Another local, Sam grew up in and around his parents base in Ohoka. A very talented and accomplished eventing rider himself Sam gets great pleasure out of working with clients to help with equine lameness and performance issues. Following on from great beginnings as a teenage agricultural contractor and completing his veterinary degree Sam undertook a one year equine internship in Matamata where he gained a great knowledge and understanding of equine performance and athletic function. He then made the move to RVC, where he has been ever since. He and his wife Mitzi are proud parents of twin daughters and when not working or training and competing his own horses he can be found in his garage tackling all manor of DIY and home building tasks.

Yet another local Sophie grew up in North Canterbury. She comes from a family of horse enthusiasts and is an accomplished rider on her own account. Sophie spent three years in mixed practice in Taupo before joining the RVC equine team. Sophie and her sidekick dog ‘Benny’ enjoy all areas of equine practice, a recent addition to her skill set is acupuncture. She attended a veterinary acupuncture course run by the Western Veterinary Acupuncture Group, the result of this training means Sophie can confidently use acupuncture in practice by applying scientific principles and prioritizing safety. The course not only provided a formulae for treatment of defined conditions, but also provided her with a sound understanding of the neurophysiological disciplines of Western Veterinary Acupuncture, examination of the patient and the principles of developing a treatment plan.

Sam joined the RVC equine team early in 2017, with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science and also a Bachelor of AgriScience he has a wide variety of interests in both equine and farm. Sam enjoys Polo and horse riding, his Polo horses - Max, Red, Basil, Pino, Ocean, Mystery and Poppy are all thoroughbreds. He also enjoys playing rugby and is a social golfer. Any spare time he has he happily makes the effort to go home and help out on the family dairy farm in North Canterbury, where he grew up with this twin brother and younger sister before he took off to Massey University.

Sarah started working at Rangiora Vet Centre in May 2016, prior to this she worked on farms around the wider Canterbury district and also on a cattle station in Australia, returning home to New Zealand to study.

After graduating Vet Nursing from Otago Polytechnic, she worked with the RVC companion animal team as a Vet nurse, shortly moving onto working with the Equine team as an Equine technician, which combines her passion for horses and nursing.

When not in the RVC uniform she enjoys riding her horse, Dexter a grey Throughbred, being out on the farm working and exploring new places with mates.