Blue Ridge Equine Clinic

Dr. LaPlume received her VMD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. Upon completing an Internship at Fox Run Equine Hospital in Pittsburg PA, she joined Middleburg Equine Clinic in Middleburg VA for seven years, where she worked primarily on hunters, foxhunters and eventers. She owned Ragged Mountain Equine Services for eight years before merging practices with Blue Ridge Equine Clinic in 2015.

Dr. Hecking is originally from Richmond, VA but has lived and worked in the Valley for many years at a busy breeding farm. She completed her undergraduate studies at Virginia Tech and then received her DVM from the University of Minnesota. After graduation she completed an equine internship at Blue Ridge Equine Clinic. Her special interests include reproductive work, lameness/sports medicine, dentistry and preventative medicine. She is a certified veterinary acupuncturist and completed her training at the Chi Institute in Florida.

Dr. Coleman is from Louisville, Kentucky, where she grew up an avid eventer and Pony Clubber. She received her Bachelors in Biology from Furman University in South Carolina and received her veterinary degree from Auburn University in May 2016. During veterinary school, Katiewas an active member of the student American Association of Equine Practioners, Society for Theriogenology, and Veterinary Business Management Association clubs. She also held leadership roles in the Shelter Medicine club and student AVMA chapter. Katie is thrilled to be starting her veterinary career with the veterinarians and facilities at Blue Ridge Equine Clinic. Katie enjoys all aspects of equine medicine, and believes thathelping horse owners provide the best care for their horses is one of the greatest privileges of being a veterinarian. She especially likes internal medicine, sports medicine and preventative and geriatric care.

Dr. Giunta s originally from southern New Jersey where she grew up riding hunters and jumpers. Prior to attending veterinary school, she obtained a Master’s degree in Genetics and performed biomedical research. Her passion for horses led her to pursue a veterinary degree at the University of Pennsylvania. Following graduation, she completed an internship at Southwest Equine Medical and Surgical Center in Scottsdale, AZ. Next, she joined Equine Sports Medicine in Texas, where she focused on sports medicine and lameness and followed the AQHA and NRHA circuits as a horse show veterinarian. She joined Blue Ridge Equine Clinic in 2010. Dr. Giunta’s professional interests include lameness, sports medicine, and diagnostic imaging. She also practices acupuncture and completed her training at the Chi Institute in Florida.

Dr. Santos was interested in horses even before he considered becoming a veterinarian, participating in both rodeos and show jumping in his native country of Brazil. He received his DVM degree in 2008 from the Federal University of Viçosa, Brazil. Following graduation, Dr. Santos completed an equine medicine and surgery internship at The Equine Center (2008-2009), then finished two concurrent specialty internships in equine surgery; Hagyard (2009-2010) and University of Illinois (2010-2011), prior to his surgical residency and Master’s program at the University of Illinois. After 4 years in Illinois, Dr. Santos and his wife moved to Virginia, where he assumed a faculty position at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg as a Clinical Instructor in Large Animal Surgery, prior to joining the team at Blue Ridge Equine Clinic in 2016. He will be sitting for surgical boards in 2017. He specializes in lameness and equine emergency services. His current professional interests include sport horse medicine, lameness, saddle fitting, diagnostic imaging, and surgery.

Dr. Kaplon is originally from Charleston, West Virginia where she grew up riding saddleseat and dressage. Molly continued riding for the University of Vermont Equestrian Team for a period of time while completing her undergraduate degree inWildlife Biology and Animal Science. She received her veterinary degree at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine (RUSVM) in sunny St. Kitts, West Indies. While in the Caribbean, she became one of the founding members of the Green Initiative to initiate a recycling program and beach clean-ups on the island. Also while attending RUSVM, Molly was Vice President of the American Association of Bovine Practitionersand an active member of the American Association of Equine Practitioners.

Dr. Cowles, founder of Blue Ridge Equine Clinic, is a 1967 graduate of Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine. He is involved in the day to day activities of Blue Ridge Equine Clinic, and provides farm calls and clinic services to clients throughout the practice. The bulk of his practice concerns lameness in performance and racing horses. Reynolds has been deeply involved with the Virginia horse industry for 25 years and has served in many capacities. He is Vice President of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP),a past board member of the AAEP and served as Treasurer from 2005-2008. He has also served on the Advisory Board of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and the Advisory Committee for the Marion Dupont Scott Equine Center. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Virginia Veterinary Medical Association (which awarded him the Distinguished Veterinarian Award in 2009), the Virginia Association of Equine Practitioners, and is a past president of the Virginia Thoroughbred Association.

Dr. Trostle was born and raised on a dairy and livestock farm in York, Pennsylvania. He received his DVM from the University of Tennessee in 1990. He completed a surgical residency at the University of Wisconsin and achieved board certification in surgery in 1996, and diplomate status in American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation (Equine) in 2013. After a year as a clinical instructor in surgery and nuclear medicine at the Marion DuPont Scott Equine Medical Center, he returned to Wisconsin to assume a faculty position at the veterinary teaching hospital in 1995. In 2001 he decided to leave academia, and joined the San Diego based referral practice, San Luis Rey Equine Hospital. In 2004 he returned to the East Coast to join the staff at Blue Ridge Equine Clinic. Steve will serve on the Board of Directors for the American Associate of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) from 2012 – 2014 and sits on various committees and sub-committees.

Dr. Moore joined Blue Ridge Equine Clinic in October 2007 to head up their Valley Division. he is a 1996 graduate of VMRCVM at Virginia Tech. She is certified by the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association and has special interests in biomechanics and lameness. Tabby has been practicing in the Valley area for over 15 years treating performance horses of many breeds and disciplines. Her practice focus is on lameness, sports medicine, and chiropractic therapy. Dr. Moore is currently serving on the board of the Virginia Association of Equine Practitioners and donates services to local therapeutic riding centers and enjoys mentoring students interested in her area of expertise.

Dr. Norman graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine in 2002 and completed an internship at Blue Ridge Equine in 2003. She completed an internal medicine residency at Texas A&M University, and is board certified in large animal internal medicine (equine focus). She has completed training in veterinary acupuncture at the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society. She has spent 6 years as an academic veterinarian at Texas A&M focusing on internal medicine and advanced ultrasound techniques. While there, she acted as the service chief for internal medicine and ultrasound and authored a number of scientific papers on internal medicine and ultrasound. Dr. Norman’s professional interests include diagnostic and interventional ultrasound, sports medicine, and internal medicine.