John Parbery, B.V.Sc. 

Partner

John has been in equine practice for over 30 years. He has a particular interest in all aspects of reproductive work. He is from the old school, which was trained in manual testing and so is able to do both manual and ultrasonic pregnancy examinations at an early stage. He has been at the forefront of veterinary medicine in the growing alpaca industry. He is currently the Vice President  for the Australian Camelid Veterinary Group and is highly regarded throughout Australia for his knowledge.

If John is not busy testing mares or worming alpacas, he can be found on his beloved “Boat” either fishing, motoring around or just relaxing.

Anthony Drew, B.V.Sc. (hons) MACVS

Partner

Tony graduated from Sydney University in 1987, and then continued at Camden as an intern under Professor David Hutchins in 1988. In 1989, Tony spent the year in racetrack practice in Melbourne before settling at Clarendon in 1990. Tony completed his membership exams in Equine Internal Medicine in 1992, but has since turned his attention to surgery. Tony became a partner in the practice in 2002.

Outside of work Tony is kept busy maintaining his property where his wife Catherine runs a riding school. He also enjoys golf, watching rugby and eating out, as well as following his family's small team of racehorses.

Cris Clark, B.V.Sc. (hons) MRCVS

Cris joined the practice as a fresh-faced new graduate back in 1995. Whilst always remaining loyal to HEVC, Cris has spent time working in different mixed practices in the UK to broaden his experience. Cris pioneered our reproduction program, after spending time studying techniques in America. He now coordinates much of our semen collection, freezing and artificial insemination.

 In his spare time Cris relaxes by skiing, surfing and playing with his dogs, Bella & Lilly.

Doug Fountain, BVMS (hons) MRCVS

Born and bred in Scotland, with both parents as vets, Doug graduated from Glasgow University Vet School in 1994. After working in mixed practice in the English Midlands for 2 years, he had his first taste of Australia in 1996 working for a year as a locum vet.

He then worked for 2 ½ years in equine practice in the London outskirts, before returning to Australia in 2000 to join the HEVC team.

The majority of Doug’s work is with the performance horse, with particular interests in lameness investigation and artificial breeding work, including embryo transfer.

Outside work, Doug enjoys scuba diving, snowboarding and racing his motorbikes, whether that be on bitumen or dirt!.

Gary joined the practice in  late 2004. He had  previously been working mainly with standardbreds and thoroughbreds in an equine practice in Bendigo, Victoria. Gary has also practised in Liverpool, England  for 2 1/2 years where he  met his wife Dianne who is a BHS accredited riding instructor. Gary also has a special interest in equine dentistry and business management gaining his Bachelor of Business degree in 1993 making him a valuable asset to HEVC.

Outside of work Gary enjoys spending quality time with his wife, Dianne and their daughter Abigail along with their 2 dogs and a 3 legged cat. Gary's spare time is spent enjoying woodworking and sport.

Emily Streckfuss, B.V.Sc. (hons)

Emily grew up in St Albans NSW and has ridden all her life being involved in pony club from an early age. She graduated from Sydney University with 1st class honours in 2002. Emily's intention was always to work in a Equine Practice, but a position became available in one of Sydney's busiest small animal practices and she saw this as a great opportunity to develop her medical & surgical skills.

Since graduating Emily has developed a keen interest in Endurance riding and has vetted at over 25 Endurance rides including Shahzada (400km - 5 day ride). She is now an accredited vet with the AERA (Australian Endurance Riding Association).

Emily started at HEVC in November, 2005 and is a valuable addition to our Veterinary team. Since Holly's departure Emily has taken over as the regular vet for Hawkesbury Race Club. She is developing her surgical skills as our assistant surgeon and also has an interest in alpaca work.

While not at work Emily enjoys training her own horses, tending her vegetable garden and going to live music shows.

Donna Keegan, B.V.Sc. (hons)

Donna graduated from Sydney University with first class honours in 2001. She worked for 2 years in mixed practice in Dungog, NSW and developed an interest in reproductive work. Donna then left to "travel the world" working in the USA and the UK and camping and backpacking through 35 countries across Europe, Asia and Africa.

Donna joined HEVC in March 2006. She has a special interest in alpacas and her small hands are well suited for miniature pony reproduction work.

Outside of work Donna is a member of the Hills Triathlon Club and enjoys snowboarding and touch football.

Our Nurses

Jillian Ferris - Head Vet Nurse

Jill has been with us for almost 17 ½ years, since 1986!  Jill is our head vet nurse - looking after all the surgery preparation and surgery room, as well as helping out in the stables. Jill is also responsible for training our vet nurses to the high standard of care we provide.

Jill worked on a thoroughbred stud for 5 ½ years working in all areas - handling stallions, yearling preparations, weanlings and mares and foals. In her spare time she likes to relax by gardening, reading, needlework and doing jigsaws.

Pat Cozzi – Vet Nurse

Pat joined the team in 2004 after completing her Equine Nursing Certificate III. With a wealth of experience after spending 6 years at Nepean Stud Farm, as well as putting in many years of work with top trainers such as Brian Mayfield-Smith, Jack Denham and V.P.Sutherland, you can be assured your horses are in good hands.

Shannan Shultz - Vet Nurse

Shannan is the newest member here at HEVC and she is a qualified Equine Nurse who was born and bred on a Thoroughbred Stud. She has travelled extensively overseas and throughout Australia and has now settled down in the Hawkesbury.

Shannan's other loves apart from horses are painting/art, sport and of course socialising.

Office Staff

Anne Parbery - Office Manager

Anne has been with the practice from its very beginning and has been largely responsible for keeping it going so long. Anne is a qualified Physiotherapist, however left her profession years ago to manage the practice. She is wife to John Parbery and dedicated mum to Adam, Mark and Kelly-Anne. On the rare occasions Anne is not busy working at keeping the office under control, she enjoys relaxing on the family boat, entrenched in her crosswords or jigsaw puzzles, and scuba diving in exotic locations

Jann Kennedy - Accounts Manager

Jann has been with us for 19 years, joining the practice in 1987. When she’s not busy keeping the accounts in order and keeping our pharmacy well stocked, Jann breeds and shows Italian Greyhounds. Working in an Equine practice is obviously not enough horses for Jann as she has been competing in Endurance riding for over 10 years. She is also a huge cat lover, with an unmentionable number of pet cats.

  Jann has also been responsible for building & designing our website and her own Italian Greyhound site and now has a "pet" interest in building websites.

Joanne Swarbrick - Senior Receptionist

Jo became one of our friendly faces in reception in May 2003. Jo has lived in the Hawkesbury her entire life and has an in-depth knowledge of the area. Previously Jo worked as a marketing assistant for a large pharmaceutical company, but a desire to work closer to home and have more time for her show horses prompted the move to HEVC.  Her spare time is spent training her Arabian and derivatives show horses, with great success at Royal, State and National level.

Louise Wallace

Louise is our newest receptionist, starting with us in June, 2004. She had spent the last 6 years working for an animal  drug wholesaler in various positions from sales to management. Louise is also a local girl who enjoys Hapkido (Korean martial arts), showjumping, dressage and she likes nothing better than relaxing with her fiancée on their fishing boat.

Our Laboratory Technician

Anne Raphael

With a Bachelor degree in Applied Science, specialising in Biochemistry, Anne has been our laboratory technician since 1987. Anne is responsible for all laboratory procedures and pathology tests, performing the haematology and biochemistry tests, setting up the swabs in the lab and preparing and sending away samples for other more specific tests to commercial labs.

Anne is married to Neil and they have 2 kids, 2 dogs and 2 horses. Anne is the devoted mother to Laura and Stuart and in her spare time she enjoys relaxing by swimming, gardening (with a decidedly un-green thumb) and quaffing fine wines in good company.