Western Equine Veterinary Services (WEVS) is an equine focused mobile practice committed to delivering comprehensive and compassionate veterinary care to the  horses in Werribee, Bacchus Marsh and the surrounding regions.  Building upon the legacy of our esteemed predecessor, Dr Ray Horsey & Associates, we take pride in over half a century of expertise, integrity, and empathetic care for the equine community in the western suburbs of Melbourne.  

Our principle base is strategically situated at 240 Diggers Road Werribee South, Vic, a mere 25 minutes west of Melbourne's CBD.  From this location we provide health care services across districts within a 50km radius including but not limited to Werribee South, Little River, Lara, Staughton Vale, Balliang, Anakie, Mount Cottrell, Rockbank, Melton, Toolern Vale, Diggers Rest, Sunbury, Bulla, and Oaklands Junction.  

Additionally WEVS operates weekday outreaches from FeedPlus Stockfeed in Bacchus Marsh, serving this locale and surrounding districts within a 30km radius such as Darley, Coimadai, Bullengarook, Gisborne, Gisborne South, Myrniong, Greendale, Ballan, Rowsley, Mount Wallace, Beremboke.

The team at Western Equine Veterinary Services is committed to delivering exceptional care across a comprehensive range of equine veterinary medicine and surgery.  We have invested heavily in modern, gold standard, diagnostic equipment to ensure we are doing the best for our patients.  Our collaboration with world-class referral hospitals ensures that we stay breast of cutting-edge advancements in veterinary research.

While we are strategically situated near the heart of Victoria's harness racing industry and have experience with both standardbred and thoroughbred racehorses, our expertise is not limited to the racetrack.  We also serve performance horses and pleasure equines, ensuring optimal health and well-being for horses in various disciplines and lifestyles.   Additionally we provide routine ambulatory veterinary services to events at the prestigious Werribee Park National Equestrian Centre, along with emergency on-call services when available and booked in advance by the event.    

Outside of the athletes we love caring for companion and pet horses.  We appreciate the privilege of being relied upon in times of need, and providing ongoing comprehensive wellness care.

• Equine Lameness Evaluation: Comprehensive assessments with adjunctive diagnostics like nerve blocks and joint injections.
• Digital Radiology: Utilizing the Miatech Ultralite cordless direct digital xray system for high-resolution imaging.
• Tendon/soft tissue ultrasound: Advanced imaging techniques for the diagnosis and monitoring of tendon and soft tissue injuries.  
• Equine Gastroscopy: Utilized for the diagnostic imaging and ongoing monitoring of gastric ulcers.  
• K-Laser Photobiomodulation Therapy (Class IV): A cutting-edge physiotherapy tool for accelerated tissue healing and pain mitigation. 
  
• Respiratory Endoscope and BAL (Bronchoalveolar Lavage): For diagnosing and assessing respiratory conditions.   
• Blood Testing: Including racehorse profiling for optimal performance monitoring.  
• General Equine Care: Immediate attention for conditions like colic, respiratory infections, diarrhoea, and occular issues, etc.
• Field Surgery: Including suture repair of wounds, hernia surgery, lump removal, and gelding.
• Equine Reproductive Services: Mare ultrasound scanning for follicular development, pregnancy tests, and artificial insemination.  Also general foal care. 
• Equine Dentistry: Benefiting from advanced training and modern power equipment.  
• Microchipping: For secure identification and association registration.  
• Vaccination and Annual Health Checks: Preventative care protocols tailored to individual needs.  

During the spring and summer WEVS excels in delivering mobile, cost-effective reproductive services, including mare ultrasound scanning, artificial insemination, pregnancy testing and general foal care. 

We also agist, scan and inseminate brood mares at our Werribee South facilities and can boast great conception rates serving mares on site due to the added care and attention we are able to give them.

At our state-of-the-art facility in Werribee South, we provide agistment under rigorous veterinary supervision.  This specialised service is tailored for equine patients requiring intensive monitoring and medical management for convalescence from illness, injury, or post-operative care.   

We also extend our expertise to accommodate short term stays for various medical procedures including castration, minor surgeries, and gastroscopic evaluations.  

During the breeding season our facility is particularly active supporting broodmares undergoing timed protocols for efficacious artificial insemination, and then pregnancy monitoring.  

Dr Nicholas Robson (Principle Veterinarian)

Nick is a local having grown up on a hobby farm in Little River. Nick graduated from the University of Melbourne Veterinary School in 2002 and started work at the Colac Veterinary Clinic. Although he was keen to be a horse vet Nick is glad he started his career in mixed practice as the skills and knowledge he gained treating all species gave him a great foundation in basic principles which he still uses on a daily basis, especially when presented with new and interesting cases.

After 3 years at Colac, and a 6 month stint in the UK, Nick started work as an equine veterinarian working for Dr Ray Horsey and Associates, which became Western Equine Vets when Dr Horsey retired and Nick bought the practice 3 years later.  

Nick spends a lot of his time on weekly rounds attending racing and performance horse stables, and is always busy with stud duties over the breeding season. No matter how busy he is Nick still enjoys seeing his regular loyal clients, especially those who have been using the practice for up to 40 years.

Krystal Robson (Practice Manager/Myotherapist/K-Laser Therapist)

Krystal has been an integral part of the Wevs story and evolution over the past 15 years.  She works tirelessly, and sometimes thanklessly, behind the scenes as practice manager - keeping the business running, staff moral up, and holding home together while her husband, Dr Nick, is out at night and weekend emergencies.  

More recently Krystal has expanded her skills undertaking studies is Canine Myofunctional Therapy, Animal Aromatherapy, and K-Laser Photobiomodulation Therapy.  In her spare time she offers these complimentary services to a collection of loyal clients.  

Dr Adele DeKretser (Associate Veterinarian)

Adele came to Western Equine Vets in 2021, initially locuming, but we loved her so much we managed to convince her to join us permanently 3 days per week.  She has more than 10 years experience working at prestigious equine clinics/hospitals, and has vast experience in all aspects of equine veterinary medicine.  Adele has a keen interest in advance veterinary dentistry, and works closely with equine dental specialists.  Adele also has a special interests in equine medicine, geriatric care, performance horse care, and preventative health care.  

Dr Miranda Brown (Associate Veterinarian)

Miranda started work with WEVS in August 2024.  

Miranda is originally from Bendigo, growing up on a small hobby farm with rabbits, dogs, cats, and of course riding ponies.  As a teenager she spent her year 11 placement with a vet who inspired her to want to be a horse vet one day.  Following school she spent several years, in the late 2000’s, grooming for elite polo players in England, New Zealand and Australia. 

In 2011 Miranda commenced the long road of study toward her desired outcome. She started with Animal Science at CSU (Wagga), then Vet Tech at Queensland Uni, and went on to work as a veterinary nurse at 2 vet clinics in Qld.  Then in 2018 she managed to get into Veterinary Science at Queensland Uni based on her exceptional grades in Vet Tech. 

After graduation Miranda worked at a large mixed practice in Queensland, however she quickly came to realise that horses were her thing.  Luckily for us we were on the lookout for an experienced keen vet when Dr Miranda also wanted to move back to Victoria to be close to family. 

Miranda is interested in all aspects of equine veterinary science, but has particular interest in reproduction, dentistry, lameness and rehab.  Her small animal experience can be utilised by our clients as we often see farm dogs and cats for routine things while on our horse rounds. 

Dr Maggie Lind (On Call Veterinarian)

Dr Maggie Lind was a part time equine veterinarian with us between 2023/24.  We are delighted she has stayed on to help us with weekend emergencies while she hones her skills in other areas of veterinary practice. 

Maggie is another local growing up in the western suburbs of Melbourne. We have known Maggie for more than 15 years, meeting her as a teenager looking after her horses agisted at a riding school. Many of our clients also already know Maggie because she became our part time vet nurse when she finished high school.

Maggie has wanted to be a veterinarian ever since she started riding at 5 years old. She never gave up on this dream enduring more than 10 years of university to get here.  Maggie is an animal lover/collector and currently fills her time with her 7 horses and 6 cats. Her family has a farm which she loves spending time at. She also keeps herself extremely busy playing elite level netball.

Professionally Maggie is interested in working with all animals. She has a second job at a small animal vet clinic, and loves seeing other farm animals (sheep, goats, cows, pigs, etc), as well as horses.  Maggie appreciates the privilege of being able to help critically ill and injured patients in their time of need and is integral in helping us provide weekend/afterhours emergency services.

Renee Pedretti (Equine Animal Attendant / Client Services)

Renee joined WEVS in 2024 working part time.  Renee has an extended history in the Equine world working with horses all her life.  She started her career as a professional dressage rider and for ten years she successfully ran her own dressage training business, spent many years travelling back and forth to Europe where she would work and train for several months at a time. During this time she achieved many accolades including,
*   Winning the prestigious Aachen Challenge 2 years in a row 2005, 2006.

*   In 2005 she was the highest ranked Australian Grand Prix rider according to the international world rankings.

*   She represented Australia at the 2007 Tri Nations Cup in South Africa. Nicholas Fyffe and Renee won the team gold medal, and Renee won individual silver.

In 2010 Renee had a fall and fractured her back, unfortunately this ended her professional riding career.  After a long recovery in 2012 she took over the management of JurAvon Park Equestrian Centre which she successfully ran as a premium agistment and equestrian events centre for 11 years.

Looking to make some lifestyle changes and to try something new Renee was offered a part time role with us which she gladly accepted.  She continues to coach dressage at JurAvon Park and has just started to ride again herself.

Kahlia Blake (Equine Animal Attendant / Client Services)

Local to the western suburbs of Melbourne, Kahlia began working with WEVS part time in 2024. Kahlia has extensive experience in a range of animal fields, from wildlife and zoological services to livestock and domestic house pets.

Kahlia graduated with a Distinction from Deakin University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Environmental Science (Wildlife and Conservation Biology), and has since also completed studies in Cert III Captive Animals through Taronga Training Institute, and Cert IV Companion Animal Services at Hanrob Institute with a focus on animal training and behaviour.

Kahlia works part time at a pet supplies/produce store, which provides great product knowledge including nutrition and supplements.

During her spare time Kahlia competes in ANKC sanctioned dog sports such as tracking, obedience, agility, and flyball, and is a registered breeder of Australian Shepherds with Dogs Australia. She also spends time with her off-the-track thoroughbred attending HRCAV rallies and events.