Caroline Thompson
Undergrad Scholarship Recipient 2018

Horses have been a passion of Caroline Thompson’s for as long as she can remember.

As a child she went through the New Zealand Pony Club system and competed in eventing and show jumping in Canterbury. After finishing high school she worked for six years in a Thoroughbred racing stable, initially as a stable hand and track work rider and eventually in the role of stable foreperson, which she held for the last three years of her time there.

Although initially seeing her future in the industry as a horse trainer, Caroline came to realise that the aspect of the job that most fascinated her was the treatment and rehabilitation of equine illnesses and injuries, and the unique challenges that equine medicine presented. This realisation led her to the BVSc degree at Massey University.

During her time at Massey Caroline focused her studies on equine medicine whenever possible and spent the entirety of her third year clinical placements in various equine practices around New Zealand as well as working as a scoping assistant at the Karaka Yearling Sales. Caroline maintains a keen interest in the racing and sport horse industries in New Zealand and has strong ties to both. She hopes one day to return to her roots and contribute to these industries as a veterinarian.

Caroline wrote a report on "Kissing Spines" in a Thoroughbred Gelding which was published in the Autumn 2018 NZERF Bulletin.