Four future horse doctors in their fourth year of outstanding veterinary school performance are the 2024 recipients of $75,000 Coyote Rock Ranch Veterinary Scholarships. The Foundation for the Horse presented their awards Dec. 8 during the American Association of Equine Practitioners’ (AAEP) 70th Annual Convention in Orlando, Florida.
The scholarship recipients, selected from 53 distinguished applicants, are:
- Fred Holcomb, Texas A&M University
- Angela Mangine, University of Pennsylvania
- Meghan Poth, University of California, Davis
- Alexandra Wethington, Texas A&M University
Holcomb intends to pursue an internship, residency, and surgical career. “When starting veterinary school, I thought that would be as a podiatrist,” said Holcomb. “Three years (and many broken sterile fields) later, I have found a passion for surgery. Where I once saw four feet and their necessary attachments, I now see a complex mass of muscle, bone, and ever-clogging intestines. This career pursuit will best inform me toward understanding and supporting my future patients.”
Mangine expects to enter ambulatory practice after completing an internship at a well-established, multi-doctor practice. She hopes to work in a larger practice where she could use her special interests, including sport horse and racetrack medicine.
Poth also has her sights set on becoming an ambulatory practitioner focused on equine sports medicine. She is interested in many aspects of ambulatory medicine, including therapeutics, nutrition, chiropractic, acupuncture, massage, and emergency and disaster medicine.
Wethington aspires to complete a large animal internal medicine residency, earn a doctorate in equine disease, and mentor as many students as she can along the way. She hopes to be boarded in internal medicine and has a passion for equine-focused pathology. Wethington intends to eventually to be a professor in equine internal medicine and serve as a principal investigator of a laboratory.
Penelope Knight created the Coyote Rock Ranch Veterinary Scholarship. Since awarding the first scholarships in 2016, 32 AAEP student members from 16 schools have shared cumulative proceeds of $2,475,000.
“At Coyote Rock Ranch, quality equine veterinarian medicine lies at the heart of our program. In helping future veterinarians achieve success, we elevate the entire equine industry and ultimately the welfare of the horse,” says Mrs. Knight. “With my overall aim of supporting education, research, and advancements in care for the horse, I am pleased to offer these scholarship opportunities to our next generation of equine veterinarians.”
About The Foundation for The Horse
Established in 1994, The Foundation for The Horse is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to improving the welfare of the horse through Education, Research, and help for Horses at Risk. It is governed and stewarded by world-renowned equine veterinarians and equine stakeholders. In 2024, in honor of its 30th anniversary, The Foundation awarded a record $3 million in scholarships, grants and program support to help transform the lives of horses throughout the U.S. and across the globe. To learn more, visit FoundationForTheHorse.org.
About Coyote Rock Ranch
Coyote Rock Ranch, in the beautiful High Desert of Central Oregon, is a breeding operation for high-end cutting horses. Committed to quality in everything they do, Coyote Rock Ranch has earned a reputation for breeding and raising well-bred American Quarter Horses with the pedigree and care to become tomorrow’s champions. To learn more visit CoyoteRockRanch.com.
Media Contact:
Jay Buckner
Marketing Manager
The Foundation for the Horse
(859) 705-0365
jbuckner@foundationforthehorse.org