STAFF
Bruce Middleton MA VetMB MRCVS (Partner)
After graduating from the University of Cambridge Bruce started work in Wendover before moving to Haslemere to work for an equine practice in Sussex. Setting up his own equine practice in 2003 near the borders of Surrey, Hampshire and Sussex, Bruce was joined by John Hennessy the following year and has grown the practice from humble beginnings to a highly successful but still very personalised equine veterinary clinic. Leading the sport horse side of the practice Bruce has worked with many high-class showjumpers, eventers and dressage horses as well as being intimately involved with the success of many high-goal polo teams over the years, yet still enjoys general equine practice.
Bruce is married with 3 children and away from work he enjoys skiing and travelling with his family, mountain biking and is the chairman of the Haslemere RUFC Juniors as well as a coach.
John Hennessy MVB MRCVS (Partner)
Born in Tipperary Ireland, John graduated from Dublin Vet School in 1986. John is a dedicated equine vet and was one of the first veterinary surgeons to embrace the use of techniques such as artificial insemination using chilled and frozen semen. He is now one of the most experienced vets in the UK in the field of equine reproduction. Between the seemingly endless amounts of mares to get in foal each summer around Surrey, Hampshire, East Sussex and West Sussex, John has a special interest in eventing and showjumping providing veterinary care from for many world class equestrian athletes.
John is married with two children, and when the breeding season calms down he enjoys spending time at home in the garden.
Alexander Mitchell MA VetMB MRCVS (Partner)
Also a Cambridge graduate, Alex joined the practice in 2006 after working for several years in and around Cambridge and Newmarket, along with spending a season in New Zealand. Alex is a dedicated equine vet and became a partner in 2010 and enjoys all aspects of sport horse veterinary medicine. During the summer Alex is extremely busy leading the clinic's embryo transfer programme but somehow still manages to play some polo. Alex is another rugby fan within the practice and also enjoys a variety of field sports.
Rochelle Lewis BVSc MSc Dip ABVP (Equine) MRCVS (Partner)
After graduating from Bristol, Rochelle has worked her way around the world, gaining experience and passport stamps! An internship in Canada was followed by a residency and Masters degree in Virginia, USA, both whilst working as a full time equine vet. After three years she returned to Canada, where she worked as clinical faculty at the Western College of Vet Medicine, and combined clinical teaching with a busy sporthorse and racetrack practice.
The next stop was New Zealand where she spent five years working for a general equine practice in the beautiful South Island, servicing racing, sporthorse and polo horses (and encountering many familiar faces from the UK polo scene!).
Rochelle is an FEI Veterinary Delegate and Permitted Treating Vet, and has been lucky enough to work at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, World Cup Series Showjumping in Beijing as well as Dressage at Hickstead and a number of New Zealand National Eventing championships.
Rochelle joined the practice in 2017, working the busy summers both here and in New Zealand. In 2021 she moved to the UK permanently with her husband and two young children, and became a partner in 2022.
Kirsty Walker BVM BVS MRCVS
Kirsty grew up in rural south west Scotland and spent much of her childhood riding horses. Upon leaving school she travelled to Australia and had her first experience of polo- working on a stud farm in New South Wales. She gained a great deal of experience working with youngstock, assisting with breeding programmes, training young horses and managing strings of horses. From then on polo became the driving force behind her travels and over the next 5 years she worked in Australia, New Zealand and England.
Having worked with horses for years she then embarked upon a Veterinary Degree and graduated from Nottingham University with First Class Honours. Kirsty was known to the practice and local polo community and joined Blackdown almost immediately. She has a keen interest in sports horse medicine with a passion for polo ponies.
In her spare time she enjoys riding her own horses, running and travelling to sunnier climes whenever possible!
Ashley Baker BVetMed MRCVS
Ashley qualified in 2020 and joined us immediately, he grew up in the area, knew a lot of clients and settled in quickly. In September 2021 he left to do an 18 month internship at Liphook Equine Hospital, gaining valuable experience, which he has brought back to his role here.
Angus Yeomans BVSc MRCVS
Angus qualified from the University of Bristol in 2016 and after 2 years in rural mixed practice, he undertook a 12 month hospital based internship in North Yorkshire at the Hambleton Equine Clinic where he remained as an ambulatory vet gaining invaluable experience with a large Thoroughbred caseload.
Prior to joining the team at Blackdown, Angus gained experience with Standardbred racehorses and polo ponies working at the leading equine clinic in Malta, where he developed interests in orthopaedics and surgery. He has subsequently enrolled onto a certificate programme studying towards advanced practitioner status in equine lameness diagnosis and therapeutics.
Aside from work Angus is a co-founder Veterinary Education Malawi. He leads the equine side of the charities activities and is responsible for building the equine curriculum at the vet school in Lilongwe, Malawi. He is passionate about teaching and mentoring future veterinary surgeons and runs surgical training courses in Malawi for international and Malawian vet students.
In his spare time he can be found with Maggie his Malawian street dog on the South Downs or travelling in his self build campervan.
Silas Mason BVetMed MRCVS
Silas qualified from the Royal Vet College in London in 2021 before completing an 18 month internship at Donnington Grove in Newbury. He then stayed on six months for a stud season where he gained valuable breeding experience with mares and foals. He joined Blackdown in 2023.
In his spare time Silas enjoys running, cycling and following test cricket.
Our equine vets work across Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire, East Sussex and West Sussex, from our facilities near the borders of Surrey, Hampshire and Sussex.
Office Staff
Vicki Lee
Vicki joined the practice in 2004. She has two lovely horses of her own, Scoops and Oliver and makes the most of her free time riding them as much as possible.
Jane Grey
Jane joined the practice at the start of 2010. She enjoys competing her beloved mare Swansong (Swannie) in all the local hunter trials and taking her to the beach in the summer.
Emma May
Emma joined the practice in 2018, having been known by Bruce and lots of our polo clients for many years. Outside of work she enjoys cycling, watching polo and walking her two dogs.
Amber Clifford-Brown
Amber joined the practice in summer 2019 after completing a diploma in Horse Management at Merrist Wood College. She splits her time between working part time in the office and her other passion as a dressage trainer and confidence coach. In her spare time Amber loves to ride her young dressage cob, Bob.
Lucy Graves
Lucy joined the practice in 2021. Having worked in Equine Veterinary practices before she quickly settled in. Outside of work she runs a sign-writing company with her husband and owns a special smiling rescue dog called Lucky!
