Reata Equine Hospital
Providing Excellent Equine Care and Education to the Community
O
64
riginating from one of the first
all-equine veterinary practices in
Weatherford, Reata Equine Hospital
sets out to be different for a reason.
To stay relevant and progressive in a
county replete with nationally recog-
nized equine veterinarians you must
maintain a level of commitment and
attention to detail that matches those
standards. The veterinarians at Reata
Equine Hospital work daily to reach
the ever-increasing expectations set
by themselves and their clients.
The equine exclusive practice
is owned by Texas A&M University
Graduates Dr. Cal Davis and Dr.
Justin High. Dr. Christine Sutherland
and Dr. Mary Bumgarner, associ-
ate veterinarians, are invaluable to
the success of the practice, and add
greatly to the level of client services
offered.
When asked why he wanted to
become a vet, Dr. High’s answer
was a simple one — he wanted to
combine what he loved in life into a
career.
“I grew up with a cattle back-
ground and I liked science,” he said.
“Since I liked the cattle industry and
it, [being a vet] was the best way that
I [could] put both together and do it.
I got out there and saw the oppor-
tunity to go out and do the things I
enjoy with cattle and science and
technology.”
Reata Equine Hospital is commit-
ted to educating and providing
opportunities to future veterinarians
with their clinical internship program
currently staffed by Dr. Cara Bankson
from LSU, as well as offering univer-
sity accredited externship programs
for veterinary students from across
the country.
The mission of Reata Equine
Hospital is to provide excellence in
equine veterinary care by educating
and partnering with their clients in
maintaining healthy horses, while
holding themselves accountable to
a Biblically-based standard of ethics
and integrity. The doctors and staff at
Dr. Cara Bankson, Dr. Christine Sutherland, Dr. Justin High, Dr. Mary Bumgarner, Dr. Cal Davis
Reata say they are “...client-focused.”
Truly, the horse and its well-being
comes first, but not at the expense of
what the client wants and needs.
“Being able to communicate in a
clear and understandable way to our
clients so they know as much as we
do about their horse is a priority,” Dr.
Davis said.
“Taking care of a horse is truly no
different than taking care of yourself,”
Dr. High said. “Having a complete
and correct diagnosis is vital, but so
is knowing and understanding the
variety of treatment options based
on your needs and expectations,” he
added.
For Dr. High, the best thing about
his job is “taking the raw product
like a yearling and turning it into a
marketable and high-end, quality
2-year-old in a short amount of time.”
The range of professional services
offered spans as wide a spectrum as
does Reata’s patient base. Internal
medicine, surgery and complete well-
ness care are staples of the practice,
but each of Reata’s doctors has a
particular interest in multiple facets of
equine practice, including lameness
and sports medicine, reproduction
and stallion management, podiatry,
chiropractic and acupuncture, as well
as the care and rehabilitation of criti-
cally ill rescue cases. At Reata they
work to include all aspects of care
for the horse, just as much as they do
in meeting each client’s individual
needs.
Dr. Sutherland summed it up best
when she said, “We are more about
quality than quantity.”