Introducing Our Practice Team

Mike grew up in West Sussex in an equestrian family and qualified in 1994 from Bristol University. He rode as a youngster and took great pleasure driving his daughter to various pony club events until her final years of school. He has worked solely with horses in Sussex since 1998 and has gained additional qualifications, holding both the Certificate of Equine Practice and the certificate of Advanced Veterinary Practice in equine surgery and orthopaedics. Mike has a special interest in lameness, poor performance, pre-purchase examinations and dental work. He also leads the surgical team, continuing to develop the in-patient and surgical facilities at the practice.

Dan was brought up in Old Surrey country and was a regular both eventing and on the hunting field. Dan qualified at Cambridge in 1999 and worked in both mixed, racing and referral practice before moving to Cinder Hill. He became a director in 2012. Dan leads our stud service and has particular interests in AI, embryo transfer and foal medicine. He lives in Hartfield with his wife and two boys who are active in Eridge pony club.

Debs qualified in 2000 at Cambridge and joined Cinder Hill in 2002 after working on the Isle of Wight for 2 years. Debs has since taken a sabbatical in Sydney, Australia for 18 months in a 'racetrack' practice. Here she gained valuable experience in anaesthesia and poor performance cases. Debs returned to Cinder Hill in 2007 and her special interests include wound management, anaesthesia and ophthalmology. Debs lives locally with her husband Adam and son Sebastian.

Alison qualified in 1999 from the University of Cambridge. She has spent most of her career in specialist equine practice in Sussex. She has evented competitively and still continues to ride regularly. Alison works 3 days a week at Cinder Hill and concentrates on her interest in lameness and poor performance.

Lydia grew up in central London but still managed to start riding at a young age, with the local pony club (in Hyde Park!) . Lydia graduated from Cambridge Vet School in 2014, going on to complete an internship at a busy equine hospital in Ireland before locuming for six months in Australia at thoroughbred breeding and racing practices.  Lydia returned to England to join Cinder Hill in 2016. Lydia enjoys all aspects of equine practice from anaesthesia to stud work and has completed her certificate in advanced equine veterinary medicine. In her spare time, Lydia can be found running with her dog Toby or horse riding and hedge hopping with friends.

Katie grew up in Kent and was a keen member of the local pony club, she qualified in 2011 from Liverpool University. After some charity work abroad and a year in mixed practice she moved home and spent the 8 years in specialist Equine practice in Kent and Sussex. Fuelled by her own riding and breeding experiences, Katie has particular interests in stud work and lameness/poor performance investigations. She has evented internationally at 5* level and hopes to continue to do so, alongside breeding embryo transfer foals from her own eventing mare.

Grace grew up in Surrey and graduated from The University of Nottingham in 2015.  She then spent 3 years in Northamptonshire and Shropshire working in first opinion and referral equine practice dealing with sports horses, pleasure horses and racing.  Whilst in Shropshire, Grace developed a keen interest in reproductive medicine and moved to New Zealand to become one of the resident vets at a large Standardbred stud farm near Christchurch. Grace then briefly returned to the UK to complete the northern hemisphere stud season in Northamptonshire before going to work at a large equine referral and reproduction centre near Brisbane, Australia. Grace then returned to Sussex in March 2020 and completed two busy stud seasons before joining us at Cinder Hill in October 2021. Grace has completed her Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice in Stud Medicine and her main interests are both chilled and frozen AI, embryo transfer and sports horse medicine.

Outside of work Grace enjoys showjumping her two horses, playing polo and hiking as well as trying to find time to travel and scuba dive in different parts of the world.

Caitlin grew up in Glasgow, where she then went on to study Veterinary Medicine at the University of Glasgow, graduating in 2021. She joined the team at Cinder Hill in 2021, and enjoys doing a bit of everything from emergencies to dentistry and lameness workups. Her spare time is spent producing her big baby Irish Draught, Spyro, who’s slowly figuring out where his own feet are.

Rosie grew up in West Sussex where she began riding from a very young age. She was an active member of The Pony Club and enjoyed eventing and hedge hoping on the weekends. Rosie graduated from the University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest in 2021, and worked at a mixed equine and farm animal practice in The Midlands until joining Cinder Hill in May 2024. Rosie enjoys all aspect of equine work especially medicine and wound management. In her spare time Rosie enjoys socialising with friends,competing in hunter trials, and walking her Labrador Bea.

Izzy grew up in West Sussex where since a young age she has enjoyed riding her ponies out on Ashdown Forest and being a keen member of the local Pony Club. Izzy qualified from the University of Liverpool and started her career at an equine practice in Dorset before joining the team here in April 2024. Izzy enjoys all aspects of first opinion work with a particular interest in wound management and ophthalmology. In her spare time, Izzy can be found walking with her labradors Lily and Bear or enjoying socialising with friends. She also enjoys lots of outdoor sports including surfing and skiing.

Amy joined the nursing team at the beginning of 2022, after event grooming for multiple top level event riders for the previous 6 years, at the likes of Badminton and Burghley. She is enjoying the challenge doing of the veterinary nursing course alongside her work at Cinder Hill. Outside of work Amy enjoys riding and competing her own horse, Buddy, as well as freelance grooming at shows and competitions.

Meg joined Cinder Hill at the beginning of April 2023 and has been enjoying the start of this new chapter, after spending the last 5 years as a freelance groom in the local area. Meg grew up in Chelwood Gate and spent most her childhood riding her ponies on the Ashdown Forest. At home Meg has just bred her first foal from her showjumping mare Ginge.

Mollie joined Cinder Hill in June 2023 as a Patient Care Assistant after achieving her degree in Chemistry at Bristol University. She has a keen interest in assisting the vets with lameness cases. In her spare time, Mollie enjoys riding and show jumping her two horses, Poppy and Spirit as well walking her whippet Willow.

Maisie grew up in East Sussex where she has been riding from a young age. Maisie joined Cinder Hill in August 2024 after working as a stud groom for the previous year and has a keen interest in reproductive medicine of horses and in particular the foaling side to it. In her spare time Maisie enjoys walking her Dachshund Wilfred as well as calving and lambing on the farm.

Gina joined Cinder Hill in November 2019 with over 10 years of management experience. With no previous equine experience, Gina has learned so much whilst working at Cinder Hill and can often be found in the yard giving the in-patients cuddles.

Outside of work Gina enjoys days out with her two children and husband.

Gerry joined Cinder Hill in 2011 from a large mixed practice in Gloucestershire as an administrator. Along with various other tasks she is the main point of contact for all of your Insurance claims and queries.

Outside of work  Gerry enjoys travelling, music festivals and long walks with her spaniel Marley.

Madeleine grew up in Sussex, one of the youngest of a large family. She has always had an interest in horses and has ridden all her life - her main interest being Dressage. Madeleine spent six years as a groom at a large competitive yard in Sussex and joined Cinder Hill Equine in 2013.As well as her administrative role Madeleine also helps out in the nursing department.

Madeleine is a qualified Dog Trainer and Behaviour Adviser. She has two children and four grandchildren and lives locally with her husband and two dogs and enjoys riding, walking and tennis.

Lisa joined the Cinder Hill team in November 2023 after 23 years in the Travel Industry. She lives locally in Lindfield with her husband and two Labradors Honey and Bailey. Outside of work Lisa enjoys time with her family and grandchildren, walking her dogs and travelling.

Jess grew up in West Sussex where she has ridden from a young age and spent many years in The Pony Club. She joined Cinder Hill in July 2024 after working for a carriage driving company. In her spare time Jess can be found walking her Spaniel, Olive and Jack Russell, Patch. Jess also enjoys riding her horse and can often be found showing cattle in the summers months if she is not busy at home on the farm looking after the sheep, lambs and cattle!

Ian qualified from Edinburgh in June 2006 and has been working with horses ever since – first in the New Forest, then at a Hospital in Sussex and latterly in East Sussex. He worked at the Olympics in 2012 as part of the Vet Team. He passed his orthopaedic surgery certificate in 2015.

James qualified from Sydney in January 2007 and worked in ambulatory practice in Australia. On returning to the UK he completed an internship at House and Jackson in Essex. He has been an ambulatory vet in East Sussex since then. He passed his orthopaedic surgery certificate in 2015.

Rosemarie graduated from Cambridge in 2011 and has worked in ambulatory equine practice ever since. She spent a few years working in the north east then returned to Sussex and in August 2021 joined the Equicall team. Rosemarie continues to be based in Sussex but also provides remote cover in other regions. Outside of work Rosemarie has nearly finished renovating her house (the garden is next) and likes to explore the country side with her cocker spaniel.

Heather grew up in a farming family in East Sussex and was a member of the local pony club. She graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in 2008. After spending a year in South Devon working in mixed practice she moved back to Sussex to work in specialist Equine practice where she has worked ever since. In 2018 she achieved the RVCS Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice.

She has 2 young daughters and enjoys riding with them and taking them to local pony club events.

Andrew went to vet school at the Royal Veterinary College in London, which is where he developed his equine interests. Immediately after vet school, he moved to Southern California to do 2 years as an intern at a large equine referral hospital. Following that, he went on to complete an equine surgery residency and Master’s degree at Washington State University, culminating in becoming a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (Large Animal). He then worked for 3 years back in Southern California as a hospital clinician and general equine surgeon, with a particular focus on colic and soft tissue surgery. Andrew has published on topics including laparoscopy, urogenital surgery and CT imaging. His main interests are laparoscopic, emergency and standing surgery, as well as computed tomography. Andrew moved back home to the UK and is a RCVS recognised specialist in equine surgery. Outside of veterinary work, Andrew and his wife have two Golden Retrievers and a Ragdoll cat. He enjoys woodworking and sports, particularly hockey and skiing.