Vets with a lifelong love of horses still running equine breeding centre

When Max Wilson graduated with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science from the University of Queensland 51 years ago, he had no idea his love of horses would lead to founding one of Australia's oldest and largest non-thoroughbred breeding centres.

Now Dr Wilson, 75, is a leading equine veterinary surgeon, as is his wife, Dr Robyn Woodward, 70, and the pair operate the Equivet Breeding Centre at Southbrook on the Darling Downs, which he founded as part of a general equine practice in the late 1980s.

He said the pair had no plans to retire anytime soon.

"We both grew up with horses and just loved them," Dr Wilson said.

"Like plenty of kids then, I used to ride my Stockhorse three miles to school, throw the saddle under the school building, let the horse into the schoolyard, and ride home afterwards."

Dr Wilson said the secret to not wanting to retire was loving your work and who you worked with.

"Every day here is beautiful, every day is a challenge, and Robyn drives us. There are no two ways about that, and we love it," he's said.

"Robyn has developed a reputation for getting old, difficult mares in foal, including a 27-year-old maiden mare."

Dr Wilson said the EBC had almost 200 client mares in residence, including 60 housed in individual yards.

He said the mares were cared for by five fully qualified vets and 20 equine and general staff.

"These mares come from all over Queensland, the Northern Territory, and Northern NSW to be bred," Dr Wilson said.

"Equivet also runs a herd of more than 200 recipient mares for our embryo transfer program."

Dr Wilson said before moving to Southbrook in 1994, the EBC had operated at the former Cotswold Hills Stud on the edge of Toowoomba.

EBC cateres for non-thoroughbred breeds, including other Standardbreds (trotters and pacers), Stockhorses, Quarter Horses, Arabs, Friesians, Welsh Cobs, Warmbloods, Painthorses, Appaloosas, and ponies.

Dr Wilson said the original 18 hectares where the duo lived and worked had grown to more than 242ha over five properties.

Born in Karara, west of Warwick, Dr Wilson's experience includes many years at the Oakey Veterinary Hospital, owned by world-leading equine surgeon and dermatologist Professor Reg Pascoe, OAM.

"I then established Wilson's Equine Veterinary Services, which serviced many of the large thoroughbred studs on the Downs," Dr Wilson said.

"After Robyn joined me in 2002, the EBC business greatly expanded."

Dr Woodward grew up at Home Hill in the Burdekin Shire and worked as a vet for many years in New South Wales at Scone, the Orange Agricultural College, and South Australia at the Roseworthy Agricultural College.

"For nearly 20 years, we worked together, and sometimes separately, in England, Thailand, India, France and New Mexico, during the Australian winters, then on our client's mares during the local spring and summer breeding times," Dr Wilson said.

"It was a wonderful way to see the world; you met people, went to their houses, and became part of the local equine community."

Despite decades of working with equine production, Dr Wilson said he never tired of the work.

"It's a challenge, every single mare is a challenge, and getting them in foal is not always easy," he said.

"I've done this forever, mainly in thoroughbred stud work, before I semi-retired when we sold our large general horse-only practice," Dr Wilsonn said.

"After we sold it in 2017, we kept the breeding centre, although I still do some work for the Highgrove Thoroughbred Stud on the Darling Downs.

Dr Wilson said they used the Oveum Pickup Procedure and the Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection techniques, as these methods allowed older horses, those unable to carry their foal or deemed unsuitable for embryo transfer, to pass on their desirable genetics to be taken by recipient mares.

"We are not offering this service commercially but will be looking at expanding into this in 2025," he said.

He said Dr Woodward and her veterinary team performed hundreds of inseminations annually, with more than 150 embryo transfers using fresh transported semen from all over Australia and New Zealand and frozen semen from all over the world.

Dr Wilson said Dr Woodward's team can stand up to nine stallions at a time for inseminating mares or for freezing their semen to be sent to clients all over Australia and overseas.

"Feedback from horse owners when they learn their mare is in foal is wonderful; it's a special moment," Dr Wilson said.

"Some owners are so happy they burst into tears."

From being an unusual business several decades ago, Dr Wilson said equine breeding services had grown to meet demand.

"The popularity of equine reproduction services has meant the industry has expanded," Dr Wilson said.

"When I started this business, we were a rarity; now, our business is getting bigger every day.

"But I have no plans to retire. I have a beautiful job; it's perfect. I can do less if I want; friends have told me to retire and go fishing, and I can't think of anything worse."