ON the 100th anniversary of the Seadown veterinary hospital in Hythe, retired equine vet and Seadown director Peter Tunney reminisces and discusses how things have changed in equine veterinary medicine with Laura Trigg, Seadown’s clinical director and equine vet.
Please detail your career in a few words?
Peter: I fi rst qualifi ed as a vet from Glasgow in 1981 and worked in Newbury and Winchester in mixed practice before joining Seadown in August 1985 to gain surgical experience, mainly with small animals. I was with Seadown until January 1987 when I left to travel and do large animal locums in New Zealand. When I returned to Seadown in June 1988, it was mainly to do farm and equine work. I retired in August 2019.
Laura: I graduated from Bristol in 2006 where I entered a busy mixed practice in Herefordshire and worked as a farm and equine vet. I joined Seadown as an equine assistant in 2009. At Seadown I enjoyed both equine and farm work but over time my role became predominantly equine based. I gained my certifi cate in advanced Equine Practice in 2013 and am an RCVS recognised advanced practitioner in this fi eld. I became a director of Seadown in 2018 and am now the equine clinical director having an interest in lameness and dentistry. I also enjoy my role as one of the honorary veterinary surgeons for the New Forest Pony and Cattle Breeding Society.
What’s was it like being a vet back then, and now?
Peter: In the 1980s all Seadown vets were mixed practice vets and treated all species. Having said that I was farm-based, and mornings were generally spent doing routine visits to one of the large dairies. Peter Goodwin and Ralph Ellis were the main horse vets. Back then the Catherston Stud were based in Brockenhurst and provided a lot of the work. As I was also doing small animal surgeries and operations most days, I might not even see a horse!
Laura: These days, vets tend to specialise much earlier in their careers. This is probably due to the advances in veterinary science and the huge in- depth knowledge that is required these days in each species. Our vets at Seadown now either work on the small animal side of the hospital or work in our equine hospital or as part of our equine ambulatory team.
Download the Full Article