Equine Health Technicians

Compassionate and High Quality Care

Charliez LaRue
Anesthesia
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Charliez was born and raised in Manteca, CA. She has always been an animal lover for as long as she can remember. She started riding when she was 13 and has never looked back. It is what inspired her to go into the veterinary field. She has three horses of her own and in her free time, she loves to compete on them.

Quinn Ford
Surgery/Lameness
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Quinn was born and raised in Oakdale, CA. She grew up with horses and rode at a young age doing gymkhanas, jackpots, barrel racing, cutting, reining cow horse, and High School and JR. Rodeo. When not at work you can find her riding her horses Roxy, Willow, and Whisper.

Jessica Larkin
Patient Care
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Jessica is working on her veterinary technician certification and prerequisites at Modesto Junior College and will be transferring to Fresno State or UC Davis to get a Bachelor’s Degree in Animal Science (Pre-Veterinary). She has had a love for horses her entire life. She participated in 4-H, Nor-Cal Junior Rodeo Association, and California High School Rodeo Association. She is taking her passion for horses to one day become an equine veterinarian. She did four years of active duty in the United States Navy as a weather forecaster and then switched into the reserves. She received an Honorable Discharge after 10 years in December 2022. She loves camping and traveling with her husband and kids.

Kylee Sisco
Equine Health Technician
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Kylee was raised in Knights Ferry for the elementary years of her life where she began her horse experience. She was raised around an abundance of different animals including horses. She started riding at an early age and enjoyed doing things like going to small jackpots, 4H gymkhanas, and trail riding. She attended Oakdale High School and graduated in 2018. She started her journey with Pioneer in the winter of 2019 during a work experience program. She is currently enrolled in Modesto Junior College where she took most of her Large Animal Veterinary Technician classes. She has an AS degree in Agriculture Science. When she’s not at work or doing homework she loves to ride her horses along the lake access around her house or take them camping. She loves to hang out with her friends and sister on the lake during the summer months and she also enjoys raising show lambs for 4H kids.

Lynsey Gookin
Equine Technician
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Lynsey was raised in Columbia, CA. Growing up, she always had a passion for animals especially horses. Her grandparents used to own and operate the stagecoach that still runs through Columbia state park today. She always enjoyed trail riding her own horses through the park also. Lynsey recently graduated from Fresno State in fall of 2022 with her Bachelor’s Degree in Animal Science. She is so excited to be using her education every day at work. In her free time, she enjoys riding her two horses, Taco and Chalupa, as well as painting and creating art.

Colleen Anderson
Equine Technician
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Colleen Anderson grew up here in the Central Valley. She finished college with a degree in Animal Science & Dairy Science. She’s worked with horses over the last ten years and is looking forward to being a part of the Pioneer team and learning new things. In her free time you can find her rock climbing, at the beach, spending time with friends or her cat.

Kendra Foley
MRI/CT
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Kendra has been working at Pioneer Equine Hospital since January 2001. She is the MRI and CT technologist. Outside of work, she can be found riding her bike, playing with her dogs, or spending time with family.

Jackie Lau
Equine Technician
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Jackie was born and raised in Escalon, CA. She started riding horses when she was nine years old. Since then, Jackie has never had a second thought about working and caring for horses. She graduated from Fresno State in May 2023 with her Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science with equine emphasis. In her free time, she enjoys riding her horse, Candy, as well as reading, hiking, and spending quality time with her boyfriend, Ian, and family.

Shea Wilkerson
Patient Care
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Shea was born and raised in Modesto, California and started riding horses when she was five. She developed a passion for riding horses and began showing and hasn’t stopped since. Shea worked as an intern at MJC at the Equine Unit for two years and decided she wanted to continue her care for horses into her career as a Vet Technician. Shea is currently working towards her RVT license. In her free time, she enjoys spending time in the mountains, riding horses, and hanging out with her friends and family.

Kathryn Hegedus
Reproduction
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Oscar has been working at Pioneer since 2020. Not only is he a great all around technician but specializes in stallion handling at our Stallion Center.

Kathryn has worked at Pioneer off and on for many years, but in the last three years she has been leading work at our Stallion Center. She is in charge of stallion collection, freezing and shipping.

Oscar Garcia
Reproduction
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Oscar has been working at Pioneer since 2020. Not only is he a great all around technician but specializes in stallion handling at our Stallion Center.

James Hegedus
Reproduction
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James works part time at the Stallion Center helping with collection and storage of frozen semen with his daughter Kathryn.

Lisa Hayes
Patient Care
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Lisa enjoys working part time at Pioneer with her coworkers and the horses.

 

Outside of Pioneer she enjoys, spending time with her family and friends, food, wine and traveling, hiking and hanging with her dog, Wylie.

Karen Shadle, RVT
Patient Care
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Karen Shadle has been working at Pioneer since 2004. She is currently one of our night technicians, providing the best patient care to those horses who are hospitalized overnight or over several days. Karen graduated from Carrington College in 2017 with her Associates Degree in Veterinary Technology.

Amanda Wiersma
Relief Technician
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Amanda has been working at Pioneer since June 2017 and she enjoys all aspects of being an equine health technician. Amanda grew up in Oakdale doing junior and high school rodeo, she now resides in Turlock with her husband and four kids. Together they have nine horses and team rope.