Legacy of Excellence in Equine Veterinary Care

Specialist Equine Surgeon

& Managing Director

Lauren has a long history at Agnes Banks Equine Clinic having first visited as a school student in 2004!!! She studied veterinary science at Sydney University and her first job was an internship at ABEC, during this year Christine Smith and Derek Major inspired her to become a surgeon. She moved her life to the USA for her training and she returned home to ABEC as a boarded surgeon in 2017. Lauren is passionate about all aspects of surgery (particularly arthroscopy and the upper air way), lameness and managing performance horses’ musculoskeletal conditions. Lauren has had a busy few years growing her family, and is excited to be leading the ABEC team into this next phase as partner and managing director!

Specialist Equine Surgeon

Christine is a Canadian graduate from the Ontario Veterinary College in 1995.  Following an internship at Texas A&M University, she trained in Equine Surgery and Lameness at the University of California, Davis, becoming a board certified surgeon in 2000. Staying on at UC Davis as a staff surgeon until the big move to Australia in 2003 to work at the University of Sydney. Fortunately for us, in 2010 she joined Agnes Banks Equine Clinic. Her clinical passions include lameness evaluation, prepurchase examinations and poor performance work-ups. She is now one of the three partners at ABEC and is looking forward to the clinics future!

Specialist Equine Surgeon

Hadley’s veterinary career also started as an intern at Agnes Banks Equine Clinic. She then worked at Canberra Equine Hospital, Goulburn Valley Equine Hospital and Charles Sturt Uni becoming a registered specialist in 2014. Hadley now has a referral consultancy business providing surgical services to veterinarians and horses from the NT to TAS. Her particular interests are in arthroscopy, laparoscopy, standing fracture repair, lameness and working with referring vets on challenging cases. Hadley is excited to become a partner and rejoin the ABEC family. You will find her at ABEC 1-2 days a week.

Equine Veterinarian

Mark came to ABEC in 2015 having previously lived in the Hawkesbury before completing his Veterinary degree at Sydney University. He was a regular around the place as a student, and ABEC was the perfect fit. Mark is running the reproduction side of the clinic which includes all the advanced techniques. He is also a fantastic general practitioner passionate about exercise physiology, lameness and getting the best from our performance horses, having competed in Eventing for many years. Mark enjoys being involved at events as a treating or FEI vet and has been a saviour in many horse rescues in the Hawkesbury. Outside of horses Mark is sports mad, especially with anything to do with cricket or football.

Equine Veterinarian

Tash graduated from the University of Liverpool in the UK in 2020 before undertaking a rotating internship in London. During her time there she completed a post graduate diploma in equine clinical practice and developed a keen interest in equine medicine. Tash joined the ABEC team in 2024 and has a diverse skill set from equine anaesthesia to dentistry and all things medicine. She particularly enjoys ensuring the best possible care for our hospitalised patients and is happiest when performing gastroscopes. She is currently completing a certificate to become an advanced practitioner in equine internal medicine. Outside of work you can find her training and competing in CrossFit, or up in the mountains on a hike.

Equine Veterinarian

Amelia grew up and went to vet school in Western Australia. After graduation she became an internship at REC Equine Specialists and gained a range of equine skills setting her up for her role here at ABEC. She is a diligent dedicated vet who loves to learn and help your horses to highest standard. She has hit the ground running and is popular with all our clients and our team love her!!! Amelia is dedicated many aspect of equine veterinary science a few of these are general anaesthesia, poor performance investigations, dynamic airway endoscopy, imaging, lameness and reproduction!!

Consulting Equine Internal Medicine Specialist

Dr Sarah Gough is a walking encyclopaedia on all things medicine and horse related. Sarah has over a decade of experience working in equine specialist referral hospitals both in Australia and the United Kingdom. Sarah has recently started her own specialist consultancy and ambulatory equine practice in Scone, following many years of hospital-based specialist practice. She has extensive experience managing a wide range of complex referral cases, including adult and neonatal emergency and critical care, diagnosis and management of endocrine and metabolic disorders, ophthalmic diseases and emergencies, cardiac and poor performance investigations and neurological assessments.

‍Sarah is very excited to be part of the ABEC team as a consultant, where she provides specialist support for complex medical cases through both Telehealth and in-person consultations by prior arrangement.

Reception

Nikki is the friendly voice on the phone and face at reception. She grew up on Lake Albert in Wagga Wagga. She lived and breathed pony club as a child. Nikki moved to Sydney where there were more opportunities. This is were she found her passion in many different fields of customer service from human dentistry, corporate and now her favourite at Agnes Banks Equine Clinic. Nikki has a son and daughter at high school. Her daughter is an avid show jumper and eventer and Nikki’s own ridding has taken a back seat, but she really looks forward to being in the saddle more. Her son plays soccer so between the two children everyone is kept very busy. Nikki loves people and helping them, she really appreciates the people she works with, having fun and the friendly ABEC work place culture that we foster.

Reception and Veterinary Nurse

Judy has been the friendly face of reception for the past 6 years. She has a want to help attitude and willingness go the extra mile for our clients. She puts herself in our clients shoes, providing empathy and action to get the best results. Judy loves efficiency and has a knack for trying to improve all aspects of workflow and systems behind the scenes at ABEC. Judy is also an experienced equine nurse and jumps in to help with all the going ons around the clinic. On her days off you can find her trail riding with friends

Clinic Coordinator

Jess a pillar of our team at ABEC. She has has been with us at ABEC for over 9 years and in this time she has done it all from stable hand, nursing, veterinary assistant, social media guru and general organiser of all things particularily our equipment. An experienced equestrian you can find her at horse shows on weekends. Many of our photos are credited to her photography skills. She has a genuine devotion and willingness to go above and beyond for ABEC and the team!! She goes by the alias Lady Whistledown.

Veterinary Nurse

Emilie is one of the original ABEC family starting here in 2011, when she gained the affectionate nickname ‘Little Em"‘. She started as a stable hand, Dr Duckworth quickly appreciated her skills, dedication and natural ability to think ahead and took her on the road as his vet nurse. Her attention to detail, thoroughness and calm nature see her thrive as our surgical nurse. Em also has a passion for all aspect of your horse’s care and welfare making sure horses have friends in hospital and the extra tender loving care that your horses deserve. Little Em has a fantastic infectious positive attitude and can do approach to her work. With two boys at home we love having her as the longest serving member of the team!

Veterinary Nurse

Emily has lived in the local area for most her life. She has been a vet nurse for 4 years coming to us from Hawkesbury Equine Veterinary Clinic. The most enjoyable part of her work is reproduction and sending healthy horses home after they have been treated. When not at work Emily competes interstate and internationally at the highest level in Mountain Games. She is about to embark on a trip to Europe to represent Australia!! Although we are sad to see her go, we wish her the greatest success, and look forward to her return. Emily is an very dedicated and efficient veterinary nurse, and she is extremely passionate about horses.

Stablehand

Tash has been with us for 8 years as a stable hand and she is a loyal and dedicated member of our team.  She is currently studying a TAFE certificate 3 in animal care and working part-time as a vet nurse in a small animal clinic. Her aim is to progress as an equine nurse and expand her knowledge about all aspects of caring for horses. She loves working and being part of a collaborative team and most of all seeing horses go home healthy and better off than when they arrived. Her passion is breeding and showing Australian Stock Horses she has four competition horses and a breeding stallion at home to keep her busy!

Horse and property manager

Tim has been with the team for 9 years now and is our everything man. He came to us with a wealth of knowledge and experience from years at Bart’s Princess Farm. From maintenance to horse handling, he can fix anything and help anywhere. We love his can do attitude and willingness… “just give me a minute” and he has it solved!! He is also responsible for random acts of kindness- like unexpectantly washing filthy cars. His weekends are spent riding and competing in camp drafting and team penning with his wife Janine, or spending time with family.

Business Administration Manager

Rebecca grew up in New Zealand and spent 15 years working in the thoroughbred racing industry. A career highlight was bringing a New Zealand horse, Xcellent, to Australia to compete in the Cox Plate and the Melbourne Cup, where he ran third to Makybe Diva. After moving to Australia in 2012 and retiring from racing in 2016, Rebecca spent eight years working in administration at REC Equine Specialists. Needless to say she is a passionate horse person who loves the opportunity to help them from a different perspective. She joined our ABEC team in December 2025, bringing a wealth of knowledge and expertise. Outside of work, Rebecca enjoys training and doing sports with her dog, hiking and shooting.

Jump mare

This wonderful mare has been with us for longer than any of our humans!! She is loved by the staff and heavily pampered. She is older now and works part time, sharing her role with Priscilla. In her spare time you can find her grazing happily in the green paddock!!!

Clinic Cat

Born in 2012 to a stray cat and rescued as a kitten by Christine. He arrived with his brother Banks. Joseph is King of the clinic, you need to check that he is not stowed away inside your float or truck before you leave!! He once ended up 300km from home and had to be brought back!

Clinic Cat

An elegant soul, a bit more reserved than Joseph. You might have to seek her out during your visit. Equally as loved, the cat treat/food storage is overflowing for this duo!