TOWCESTER VETS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Veterinary Partners
Andy qualified from the Royal Veterinary College in 1991 and joined Towcester Veterinary Centre in October of the same year. Apart from a year's sabbatical in South Africa in 1997, he has worked here ever since and became a partner in 1999. Andy was instrumental in setting up the equine clinic at Plum Park and has seen it expand from humble beginnings to the twelve-vet equine team we have today. He is particularly interested in lameness diagnosis and treatment. In 2023 he was voted as a finalist for the Petplan Vet of the Year awards. The team were very proud to see him recognised for his incredible work - he was the only equine vet to make it to the final from thousands of nominees across the country.
Andy is married, lives in Towcester and has three children. If he has any spare time, he enjoys playing tennis.
Job Titles:
- Equine Veterinary Technician
Becky joined the team in July 2022, after working in National Hunt Racing for 8 years. She has a 9 year old ex-racehorse who has turned his hoof to everything from hunter trials to dressage. She also has a 7 year old border collie who has competed in working trials, where she has worked through all the stakes and is now competing at top level. She was also placed 2nd in the working trials class at Crufts in 2018 and then won the class in 2020. She graduated from Hartpury University in 2019 with a degree in Equine Science with Therapy. Becky is very keen on the science and anatomy aspect of horses, which is what has attracted her to the veterinary side of the equine industry. She enjoys working with the lameness assessment cases, and being able to work with horses from a variety of different disciplines.
Joining us in early 2019, Charlie completed her undergraduate degree in Equine Sports Therapy at Writtle University College. Having completed her Masters in Veterinary Physiotherapy, Charlie is able to use her knowledge of equine anatomy to assist with our poor performance caseload and ongoing rehabilitation.
In her spare time, Charlie enjoys spending time with her Golden Retriever, Clover, as well as working on her part time equine physiotherapy business.
Job Titles:
- Nurse
- Deputy Head Veterinary Nurse
Chloe previously joined the team at Towcester Equine Vets back in 2019-2020 as a student completing her nursing placement. On becoming a Registered Equine Veterinary Nurse (RVN) in 2021, and on completion of her BSc (Hons) Equine Veterinary Nursing Science degree at Hartpury University, she rejoined the team in June 2022 as the Deputy Head Nurse.
Being our theatre nurse Chloe is very passionate about inpatient care and anything surgical, and in August 2022 she qualified as a Clinical Coach to teach future nursing students to progress in their careers. In the near future she hopes to complete a Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Nursing (CertAVN), specialising in anaesthesia and critical care. She also holds a Diploma in Equine Management from Brackenhurst, Nottingham Trent University, obtained in 2016 which started her on the path to veterinary nursing.
In her own time Chloe enjoys reading, visiting her family in the East Midlands and spending time with her Cocker Spaniel puppy Jinx.
Job Titles:
- Member of Both the British Medical Laser Association
Jeremy qualified from the University of Glasgow's Veterinary School, but also holds degrees from the University of Birmingham, Nottingham Trent University and the Royal Veterinary College, London. After working at the world-renowned Animal Health Trust in Newmarket for a number of years, his private practice now concentrates entirely on the treatment of horses, ponies and donkeys with skin tumours and Jeremy works with numerous veterinary practices and equine charities throughout the United Kingdom.
Jeremy is a member of both the British Medical Laser Association (BMLA) and the European Laser Association (ELA); he is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM), a member of the Royal Society of Biology (RSB), an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and a Senior Visiting Fellow at Nottingham Trent University. In addition, he is a member of the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA), the British Veterinary Association (BVA), is a Trustee (and was a former treasurer) for the BEVA Trust and is the Veterinary Consultant for the rescue and welfare charity Bransby Horses. Jeremy has authored and co-authored a number of peer-reviewed publications related to equine oncology in both the UK and Europe and has lectured on the subject at universities and conferences across the world.
Emma joined the practice in January 2021 having previously worked in numerous National Hunt racing yards. A keen point-to-point rider Emma has also recently qualified her own ROR horse for arena eventing championships. Living locally, in her spare time Emma enjoys playing netball and keeping fit. Since joining the team Emma has developed an interest in lameness evaluation, riding many of our in-patients during their appointments.
Gareth joined Towcester Veterinary Centre in 2000 after graduating from the University of Liverpool. He joined the partnership in 2009 and now heads up the farm department. He enjoys all aspects of his job, especially the interaction with farmers and being able to make a difference on the farm. He has a particular interest in herd and flock health planning and has a great interest in cattle fertility and mastitis. He is a registered plan user of the AHDB Mastitis Control Plan.
Gareth enjoys all sports and plays football regularly. He is a keen rugby fan and wishes he had been good enough to play for Wales. He lives in Towcester with his wife and two children.
Georgina joined us in 2018 as a nursing assistant. Due to her experienced background in stud work handling stallions, broodmares and youngsters, she mainly assists the breeding team. Georgina is a qualified AI technician and represents the breeding department of Towcester Equine Vets at events and client evenings.
In her free time Georgina enjoys spending time with her family's dogs, exploring the countryside with her Cocker Spaniel Ava and riding the horses based at her family's stud.
Helen qualified from Cambridge University in 1984 and started working at Towcester Veterinary Centre shortly afterwards. She became a partner at the practice in 1994 and passed the RCVS certificate examination in Small Animal Surgery in 2010.
Helen enjoys the job every part of her job from the consulting to the operating and taking surgical referrals from other practices. She especially enjoys complex orthopaedic and soft tissue surgery. She is one of the only people in Northamptonshire registered to carry out laparoscopic (keyhole abdominal) surgery in animals.
Outside work Helen enjoys running - so much so that's she completed nine marathons! She also competes her horse regularly and owns working Labradors. Helen also very much enjoys watching top class rugby.
Job Titles:
- Citizen Scientist
- Equine Veterinary Technician
Jane joined us in 2014 after a career in business and human nursing. Joining Towcester and Onley Equine Vets fulfilled an ambition to combine her lifetime love of horses with her keen interest in all things clinical. Jane works alongside our Onley team, assisting with appointments both at the clinic and out on the road.
In her spare time, Jane is a Citizen Scientist aboard the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust's research vessel ‘Silurian'. Jane's love of animals and wildlife has also resulted in her becoming a polar guide and historian, lecturing on Expedition ships in Antarctica where there are no horses but there are plenty of penguins!
Job Titles:
- Equine Veterinary Technician
Kelle joined the team in August 2022, she has worked within the equine industry for many years in various roles from grooming, teaching, stunt work and stud duties.
She also enjoys competing herself - showing at RISH/HOYS level, eventing, dressage, team chasing and carriage driving.
Kelle is primarily based at the Onley clinic assisting the vets, also working hard to keep the clinical environment clean and tidy and helping the nursing team on a daily basis.
As Kelle is an experienced rider she is often seen riding clients horses on the poor performance/lameness days for vet observation if required.
Kelle has her own horses and a gentle greyhound called Jaxx who is very loyal and often not far from her side.
Michael Sheldon joined the practice in 2003 and became a partner in 2011. Michael is extremely passionate about dentistry and leads the team with advanced dentistry work, offering services for internal and external referrals. He is responsible for introducing gastroscopy and internal medicine work to the equine department, which has been essential to growing our equine teams.
Mike has worked for Towcester Veterinary Centre since qualifying in 2003 from Edinburgh University, becoming a partner in 2011. Mike has particular interests in equine medicine, poor performance, dentistry and equine anaesthesia. He was responsible for the introduction of the practice's dental and gastroscopy services now making up an integral part of the medicine department. Mike can often be found out on the road seeing clients but is increasingly in clinic with orthopaedic cases and anaesthesia monitoring for the surgical caseload. Mike is an active member of the wider equine community and owns two ponies with wife Alice. Mike also enjoys tennis, snowboarding and ultra marathon running. He has a two young daughters Matilda and Beatrix.
Phil is one of the founding Partners of Hambleton Equine Clinic. Having qualified from the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies in 2005 he completed an Internship at The Equine Medical Centre of Ocala in Florida followed by a Surgical Residency at Michigan State University. As a result of these advanced qualifications he is one of very few veterinary surgeons in the country to hold dual US and European Diplomas in Equine Surgery. His particular areas of interest are lameness and surgery and he has a high racehorse and sports horse caseload. Philip has overseen the design and development of the clinic from the start and as a result has developed a hospital from which he can provide a referral service for vets across the North of England.
Safia Barakzai is an internationally recognised specialist in equine surgery. Her expertise lies in soft tissue surgery, and in particular, upper respiratory disorders (‘wind' problems), dental and sinus surgery and minimally invasive surgical techniques. She is a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons (ECVS), holds both Certificate and Diploma in Equine Soft Tissue Surgery from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) and is a RCVS and ECVS recognised surgical specialist. She has also been an associate member of the European College of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging (ECDVI). She qualified from Bristol University in 1998 and started her surgical training at the University of Edinburgh the following year. After her residency, she stayed on at the University of Edinburgh until 2012, working as a senior surgeon in the R(D)SVS referral hospital managing clinical cases, performing clinical research and training many other young equine surgeons who are now surgical specialists in their own right. She then spent 5 years working as an equine surgeon in private practice in the UK and Ireland, before setting up Equine Surgical Referrals as a mobile surgical consultancy in 2017.
Safia's clinical research includes over 80 peer reviewed publications in the veterinary literature, plus 2 full textbooks and numerous other textbook chapters. Her main research interests are diagnosis and surgery of upper respiratory tract disorders and imaging and surgical treatment of dental and sinus disorders in the horse. She is regularly invited to speak at local, national and international veterinary conferences and has been an examiner and chief examiner for the RCVS certificate.