Following the creation of B&W Equine Group LTD it is extremely important to the Directors of Bushy Equine Vets and Willesley Equine Clinic that despite the growth of the practice personal client service is not lost and that people continue to feel that we are still the “local vets” for their horse or pony.
The creation of the new hospital will enhance the facilities and services we offer but will not replace any of our current clinics. Read on for more information on the story so far:
Bushy Equine Clinic
The Bushy Equine Clinic was established in 1986 when Ian Camm moved back into the area that he was brought up. Ian’s family have been involved in many aspects of equestrian pursuits from eventing and hunting to international carriage driving. The clinic, with its x-ray developer plumbed into the garden shed at Bushy Farm, was founded on the basis of giving a personal high quality service and has prided itself on being a true member of the local community. We have always been proud not only to work with our clients and their horses but also to work closely with local farriers, physiotherapists, saddlers etc. as well as local riding clubs and the pony club.
The area covered gradually expanded and Ian was joined by Scott Milnes from Portishead in 1994. Scott developed the southern part of the practice while initially based at Breadstone and running a clinic from Murphy’s tack shop in Hewish two days a week. Now along with co Director Duncan Ballard he manages a thriving practice from our Failand clinic.
Bushy Equine Clinic was one of the first private practices to set up a scintigraphy unit and we took referrals from many other practices for “bone scanning”
Chris Wright strengthened the team at Breadstone in 2004 having completed a residency at the University of Bristol, Langford and spent time in practice.
Lee Paul who was already working in a mixed practice in the Cardiff area decided that he wanted to join a progressive equine team. In 2007 he joined Bushy Equine Vets and has established a successful operation in South Wales operating from a base just outside Cardiff.
The desire to give a local personal service to all our clients along with access to state of the art facilities and expertise lead to the relatively easy decision that it was a perfect partnership to join forces with the Willesley Equine Clinic. Together we would still have our “local practices” but that we would all benefit from a central modern equine hospital offering unrivalled facilities including scintigraphy, CT scanning and MRI scanning.
Bushy Equine Vets which had in its past been part of a mixed practice finally split from the small animal department of Vale Vets Ltd at the end of Feb 2009 to merge with Willesley Equine Clinic and form the B&W Equine Group.
Willesley Equine Clinic
Willesley Equine clinic started life as the equine branch of Lansdown Veterinary Surgeons. Lansdown was a traditional mixed veterinary practice based in Stroud that had served the Stroud valleys for over half a century.
John Killingbeck joined Lansdown in the early eighties with the aim of expanding the small amount of horse work that the practice was currently doing. John had worked previously in the Tetbury area so chose to base the Equine practice in that area. He agreed to rent a garage and three stables from a client in the village of Willesley. From there he was able to bring in horses for further investigation of problems that could not be satisfactorily diagnosed and treated at home.
Chris Shepherd joined Lansdown in 1986 with the aim of helping John expand the horse practice. By 1989 the caseload was sufficient to necessitate a move to larger premises at our current site in Willesley. The arrival of Svend Kold from the Animal Health Trust in 1993 strengthened the equine team and encouraged an increasing number of cases to be referred from other Veterinary Practices.
By 2000 the Equine practice was sufficiently independent to sever its links with Lansdown Veterinary surgeons and become a stand alone Equine Practice.
Specialist Equine Veterinary Surgeons were added to the clinical team with the aim of improving the service to clients and expanding the practice. Peter Ravenhill joined in 2001 to help expand the Stud work, Ollie Crowe in 2003 as a surgeon and Richard Hepburn in 2004 as an Internal Medicine specialist.
By 2009 at the point of the merge with Bushy Equine Vets, Willesley employed 12 full time equine vets.
