| |
|
|
| Cindy
Suhonen - Office Manager |
|
Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, Cindy was a horse
lover from the start. She attended Lake Erie College in Painesville,
Ohio and received a B.A. in Equestrian Studies. Cindy married
Alan, a CBS/ABC/Fox News director in 1983 and spent the early
part of their marriage in Houston, Texas. There Cindy was a
veterinary technician for Katy Equine Clinic. She also served
as the president of the Houston Dressage Society for 2 years.
In her spare time she competed through 4th level dressage and
bred Dutch Warmbloods. Cindy and her husband also enjoy restoring
and renovating houses and barns.
In 1996, Cindy moved to Warrenton, Virginia, with her husband,
3 horses and assorted pets and became the office manager and
first employee of the Piedmont Equine Practice. Cindy currently
competes a young Dutch mare named Oefingen and hopes to bring
her up to second level soon.
^ top |
|
| Joannie
Thompson - Office Assistant/Billing |
Joannie was born and raised in Westchester County, New York.
Riding was an every day part of her life as a child, she regularly
competed her gelding Aragon in the local show hunters.
After completing her education, Joannie moved to Boston,
Massachusetts and lived there for 13 years. There she met
her husband before relocating to Fauquier county and giving
birth to her son Taylor. In her spare time, Joannie competed
her thoroughbred gelding, Just Fun Stuff, in eventing through
the preliminary level.
Prior to becoming an administrative assistant
for PEP, Joannie was a cardiac technician and EMT with The
Plains rescue squad for several years. Following that Joannie
was an employee for the Taylor Harris Insurance Services company.
Currently Joannie and her son live in The Plains, Virginia
and share a horse Buddy, three cats and two dogs. Joannie
schedules for Dr. Anikis, Dr. Nolan, and Dr. Diehl.
^ top |
|
| Alexandra
Tatham (Po) - Pharmacy Technician |
|
Nicknamed Po because as a young child she would repeatedly ask
to ride Po when referring to her pony, Po was born and raised
in Vienna, Illinois. After completing her education Po began
her professional career as an instructor/trainer of event horses
and riders. During that time, Po evented through the Advanced
3-day level.
In 1987, Po received the Harry T. Peters award for winning
the National Young Riders Championships. During that year
she also won the Courtney Reeves Award for best sportsmanship.
In 1990, Po was granted the Markham Trophy young riders award.
She also successfully completed the 3 Star Rolex International
event.
Currently Po lives in Middleburg, Virginia and shares her
time between training event horses, running an equine rehabilitation
center and working as the pharmacy technician for The Piedmont Equine
Practice.
^ top |
|
| Elaine
Brissette - Office Assistant |
|
Elaine grew up in Ellsworth, Maine where she actively competed
in both english and western disciplines via the local 4-H and
pony club. Pursuing her love of horses, she attended Post College
in Waterbury, Connecticut where she majored in equine studies.
Following college, Elaine took an apprentice position at Rapidan
River Farm training and caring for Morgans. Following this
position, she joined Tyra Arabians, a farm specializing in
showing and breeding arabians. Elaine then groomed professionally
for Twin Oaks Farm
traveling with her horses to Palm Beach and Ocala, Florida.
Through this position Elaine met and married her husband Craig,
the manager of Twin Oaks Farm. Elaine spent 5 years at Child
Help teaching underprivileged children riding and horsemanship
skills.
In 2005, she joined The Piedmont Equine Practice where she schedules
and assists Dr. Davis and Dr. Bowman.
^ top |
|
| Sophie
White - Office Assistant |
Sophie White
was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. Following high school,
Sophie attended the University of Quebec in Montreal where she
studied linguistics. During this time she also received her
Canadian certification to train and teach riders of the western
discipline.
Following her education in Quebec, Sophie moved to North Carolina
to become an apprentice trainer under one of the top reiners,
Francois Gauthier. Following her 2 year stay in this training
facility, Sophie relocated to San Diego, CA for a year to train
with another top reiner, Yvon Mathieu. A riding injury then
forced Sophie to take a short break from riding and training
so she returned to Montreal.
During her time off from the horses, Sophie decided to take
a trip to visit a friend in Virginia. Fate had it that this
is where she would meet and marry her husband, Bill White. Following
their marriage, Sophie moved with her husband, a Virginia native,
to Luray, VA where she currently resides. Sophie continues to
train and ride aside from her work with Piedmont Equine as an
office assistant for Dr. Theiss.
^ top
|
|
| Juliet
Graham |
|
Juliet Graham was born in England and grew up in Calgary, Alberta,
Canada. She went to Foxcroft School in Middleburg, VA. Juliet
started eventing at the age of 14; her mother was shortlisted
for the Canadian Three Day Team in 1968. Juliet did her first
international event in Burghley in 1972 on a mare, Sumatra,
that was bred by her parents Nicky and Pip Graham. She went
on to do Burghley and Badminton several times, including an
8th place finish at the World Championships at Burghley in 1974.
She was a member of the Canadian Three Day Team at the Olympics
in Montreal in 1976, and the Gold Medal winning team at the
World Championships in Lexington, KY in 1978, finishing 9th
individually, all on Sumatra. She rode Taxi to wins at Radnor
1978 and the Rolex 3 Day in 1979, and also rode Jones at the
world Championships in Luhmuhlen, Germany in 1982.
Juliet took up steeplechase racing after that
and had many wins at point to points and sanctioned races,
including the Leading Lady Timber Rider of the Virginia Point
to Point Circuit in 1988 on Mocito Bien. She has foxhunted
with the Piedmont Fox Hounds since 1970, recently as field
master and whipper-in. She has operated a big fox hunter boarding
stable, and owned a mobile tack and farm supply business.
In addition to working for Piedmont Equine, Juliet manages
a farm, trains event horses and foxhunters, has a lot of foxhunting
and eventing students, and is on the Selection Committee for
the Canadian Three Day Team.
^ top |
|
| Ann Pawlak |
Ann was born in Easton,
Maryland and there her love of riding began at the age of
ten. She attended both Southern Seminary College for Women
and Salisbury State College and received a BS degree in Animal
Husbandry. Ann has managed hunter/jumper show barns and fox
hunter barns. She is married to a farrier, Randy. They have
two boys, David age 8, and Cole age 6. David is an equestrian;
he fox hunts and competes in local shows and horse trials.
Anne has a horse, 2 ponies and a mini named Ricky Bobby.
Ann has been with Piedmont Equine since late 2003 as a veterinary
assistant. She manages the pharmacy in Po's absence and can
participate in nearly every task that goes on at Piedmont
Equine.
^ top |
|
|
|
Karen Piercy |
|
Karen was born and raised in Orange County, Virginia. She grew up with horses and has always had a deep love and admiration for them. Her career within the horse industry began early when she accepted a job on a large horse farm while still in high school.
Karen met her husband and moved to Maryland where she worked in a small animal clinic. In 1995 they moved to Pennsylvania where she lived and worked on a large Standardbred and Thoroughbred operation. During that time she worked as a veterinary assistant and was in charge of the yearling consignment.
In 2001, Karen, her husband, and two sons moved back to Virginia to be closer to their families. With the support of her husband and sons, Karen attended Blue Ridge Community College and obtained an Associate Degree in Applied Science in Veterinary Technology. She is Licensed Veterinary Technician who specializes in equine medicine. She worked for an equine emergency referral clinic in Charlottesville, Virginia and became very interested in equine anesthesia. Karen still supports the education of LVT students who wish to pursue a career in equine medicine after graduation. She set up a scholarship for second year students at Blue Ridge Community College called the “Equine and Large Animal Veterinary Technology Scholarship.”
Karen currently lives in Madison County with her husband, two sons, Tyler age 17 and Mikey age 13, four dogs, three cats, three horses, one pony, and one miniature donkey. Her hobbies include running, biking, hiking, horseback riding, reading, baking cakes, and spending time with her family
^ top
|
|
Gail Figgins |
|
Gail Figgins was born in Vermont but has spent the majority of her life in Virginia. She and her husband, Raymond, live in Upperville with their son, Ray, who will be attending college this Fall. Their oldest son, Sean, is an illustrator currently living in San Francisco. Their daughter, Lindsey, is a junior accountant living in Alexandria, Virginia.
Gail has been involved with horses most of her life. During her early equestrian career she competed at horse shows and became a 4H leader and “B” pony clubber. Later she assisted her husband with breaking, training and racing Thoroughbreds for 23 years. She was also employed for 17 years as an equine veterinary assistant in Middleburg, Virginia. She is currently enrolled in the Veterinary Technology program at Northern Virginia Community College. She is especially interested in Equine Nursing, Emergency and Critical Care in which she is working towards a specialty.
^ top
|
|
|
|
