Any practice is dependent on its staff team in order to provide its clients with quality veterinary care, and at Wendover Heights we have the staff in place to give our clients an efficient, professional and compassionate service.

 

Mike Hewit - MA, VetMB Cert VR, MRCVS (Director)

Mike graduated from Cambridge in 1988 and joined the practice in 1989 when it was located at the terraced town house premises in Wendover as Parker, Godsal and Partners. He takes great pleasure in the diversity of mixed practice and is passionate about the ethical provision of veterinary care and working alongside clients to improve  patient care. Special interests include radiography and orthopaedics.  However, despite the trend towards concentrating skills in ever narrower areas, he still enjoys tackling the wide variety of challenges across many veterinary disciplines, believing that there are great benefits from the wider perspective and experience.

 

Nick Snookes - BVetMed, MRCVS (Director)

Nick has been in the veterinary scene for over 27 years after qualifying from the Royal Veterinary College. Nick has been a Partner at WHVC for over 22 years with most of that time concentrating on the equine side of the practice.  He is also involved in veterinary provision for the film and TV industry, with projects including many TV commercials and feature films such as  Warhorse, Harry Potter, Batman and Robin Hood.

 

Ben Wakeling - BVMS, MRCVS

Ben qualified in 1996 from Glasgow.  He worked at Liphook Equine Hospital for several years, initially as a House Officer specialising in equine anaesthesia and intensive care therapy, and then as a First Opinion Assistant.  He joined Wendover Heights  in October 2003 after travelling for a year, including some time spent in working in Zambia.  Ben was a keen rider during his early 20s when he took part in a ride across Botswana in aid of the Injured Riders and Jockeys Fund. Ben is particularly interested in internal medicine and equine nutrition.  He will shortly be facing the exciting prospect of becoming a horse owner again himself with his three young children on the look out for their first ponies.

 

Clare McKinstry - BVMS, MRCVS

Clare qualified in 1996 from Glasgow University and immediately found her interest in the horse world. Clare

worked in a couple of practices before joining the Wendover Heights team in 1999. During her time at WHVC, Clare has developed a particular interest in the investigation and treatment of poor performance in sports and competition horses.  Her other main area of interest is lameness and she is expert with the many first opinion diagnostic techniques available at the surgery.  Clare is also the main stud vet at the practice and recently spent 6 months in New Zealand furthering her stud experience and gaining a wider perspective on the veterinary world.  Clare has lots of experience in the saddle with eventing being her passion.  She has her own horse, Regal Star, who she has brought on from being a green and slightly cheeky 3-year-old to a very smart competition horse.

 

Joanna O’Gorman - BVetMed, MRCVS

Jo qualified from The Royal Veterinary College in London in 2001 and joined WHVC in 2002.  She works in both the large and small animal sides of the practice, but with an equine bias.  She is particularly interested in medicine with care of the competition horse as one of her main interests. Jo is one of 5 vets in her family and her sister Vicky is also one of our equine vets.

 

Victoria O’Gorman - BVetMed, MRCVS (currently on maternity leave)

Vicky comes from a family of 5 equine vets and has been working in the Wendover Heights Equine department since the summer of 2006.  Many of you will also have met Ted, Vicky’s border terrier, who is a regular feature out on call.

Vicky qualified from Liverpool University in 2003 and then moved to Newcastle where she worked in equine practice. Her next move was a bit closer to home in Marlow, and then on to Rossdale’s equine practice in Newmarket.  Her role at Rossdale incorporated a great deal of training in areas such as intensive care patients, anaesthesia and lameness diagnostics.

 

Never one for an easy life, as well as working extremely hard for all the equine clients at WHVC, she also has two horses of her own.  Vicky used to enjoy eventing but as a busy practice vet she is happy to spend any precious spare time bringing on youngsters.

 

 

Samantha Castle - BVSc, MRCVS

Sam graduated from Liverpool in 2003.  Her veterinary career started in Northumberland before spending 18 months working in Australia and travelling around Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, South Africa, Zambia and Malaysia.  She joined the WHVC equine team in September 2008 and is particularly interested in internal medicine and colic investigation work.  Sam is also an accomplished rider and is hoping that her own horse, Magnus, currently getting fat in a field in Cumbria, will be joining her down south soon.  The latest addition to Samantha’s life is Mouse, a very cute but slightly cheeky border terrier cross puppy.

 

Ricky Farr - BSc(Hons), BVSc, MRCVS

Ricky qualified from Liverpool University in 2006 and then went on to work in equine first opinion practice.  He joins us from Cambridge University where he worked as part of the ambulatory team. He is currently working towards his Certificate in Equine Internal Medicine and is particularly interested in endocrine and metabolic disorders. Prior to qualifying as a vet, Ricky completed an Equine Science and Physiology degree at Hull University. Pre university he worked with event, polo and hunting horses and competed himself.  He is also a qualified BHSAI and NVQ Level 3 assessor, teaching and lecturing at Bishop Burton College.

 

Nicola Pursey - MA, VetMB, MRCVS

Nicky qualified from Cambridge University in 2007 and spent her first 2 years working in the wilds of Devon at Penhale Equine Clinic. Having decided that Devon was too far away Nicky relocated to an ambulatory equine practice in Hertfordshire in 2009 and then joined Wendover Heights Equine as cover for Vicky O’Gorman’s maternity leave in July 2011. Nicky is particularly interested in internal medicine, stud medicine and dentistry and hopes to undertake a certificate in equine practice in the near future.

 

Nicky has ridden and competed horses since she was young but she currently spends her free time floating around the sky as a cross county glider pilot. She is also a keen (but accident prone) snow boarder and an enthusiastic baker.

 

Emily Hockley - RVN

Emily qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2004 and joined Wendover Heights in October 2005. Emily works mostly in the equine department assisting the vets with procedures and investigations. She worked in a small animal practice before joining WHVC.  She particularly enjoys internal medicine, assisting the vets with surgery and the variety of diagnostic procedures at the practice.  Emily has her own horse, Polo, and is regularly out and about having fun with him.

 

Rachel Jones - Equine Co-Ordinator

Rachel joined the practice in January 2009 as Equine

Co-ordinator.  Her role within the team is to assist the vets in the organisation of the department.  Rachel has two horses of her own that take up most of her spare time.  Prior to joining Wendover Heights Rachel ran a large equestrian centre and has lots of experience looking after all sorts of horses with veterinary care being her main interest.