Dr. Julia was raised in Texas and developed an early love for horses when for Christmas as an 8 year old she received riding lessons. She went on to show Saddlebreds competitively all over Texas and Oklahoma all through school and after college.
Growing up a “Texas Longhorn” and excelling in math and science, she pursued her undergraduate degree in Computer Science from the Business School at the University of Texas in Austin. After working for Hewlett Packard for 6 years managing client’s computer systems, she followed her passion back to medicine and working with horses and was accepted into vet school at Texas A&M. While in vet school she spent a summer working in Ireland for a vet clinic that primarily serviced the breeding and racing stock for Coolmore Stud, a prominent Thoroughbred racing organization in Europe, Australia and the US. It was here where she developed an appreciation and thrill for thoroughbred racing. She graduated from Texas A&M in 1999 and proceeded on to Florida where she worked as an ambulatory intern for Peterson & Smith Equine Hospital in Ocala.
Claiming to be the Horse Capital of the World, Ocala provided an opportunity to work on nearly every breed from Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses, to Warmbloods, Arabians and Paso Finos. Along with this variety of breeds came an exposure to the various uses from training and showing, to racing, trail riding and breeding. For that reason, she opened her own ambulatory practice in Ocala in 2002. She was introduced to the endurance sport in 2001 and has since become a 4 Star FEI vet judge qualifying her to participate in vetting the highest level endurance competitions in the country and witnessing exercise physiology at its most extreme.
Believing in the holistic approach, she obtained her certification in Acupuncture, has taken numerous nutrition courses and is currently pursuing her certification in Equine Osteopathy. Her practice integrates both conventional therapies along with alternative modalities to bring about a truly holistic approach to treating her patients and keeping them healthy. She offers a particular emphasis on nutrition and the energetic medicines such as acupuncture, osteopathy, essential oils, and homeopathy to name a few.