Equine Center > Clinical Information > Equine Clinicians > Dr. Julie Wilson
Dr. Julie Wilson
Dr. Julie Wilson, DVM, specializes in equine infectious disease, neonatal medicine, digestive disorders and preventive medicine.
Born in Paris, she was fortunate to have a horseloving mother and tolerant father who encouraged her interest in horses as the family moved around the world.
“I had the horse bug genetically,” she said, as her grandmother was also a horse enthusiast.
When she was four, her family moved to Potomac, Maryland where she began riding. At five “they gave me a choice of ballet lessons or riding lessons, and the die was cast for the rest of my life,” Wilson said.
She continued lessons when her father’s diplomatic work took them to Madrid, Spain for three years, and then to Bangkok, Thailand for two years where she and her three siblings enjoyed gymkhana, vaulting, jumping and musical rides and summers riding and living in bunk houses on the River Kwai. When his career landed them in Manila, the Philippines for four years, she learned polo, cross country and dressage.
An equine career was inevitable.
“I knew at age 12 I would be a veterinarian,” said Wilson.
In her last year of high school, the family moved back to Maryland where she exercised other people’s horses. She attended Cornell University for both her undergraduate and DVM degrees. There she joined the first women’s polo team and purchased her favorite polo pony, Bo Peep, who accompanied her through her internship at the University of Guelph, Ontario and a residency at the University of Florida, Gainesville.
Following her residency, she worked at a veterinary clinic in the premier foxhunt and steeplechase country around Purcellville, Northern Virginia.
“One of my ambitions was to be a jockey, but I got too big, so when I got to ride in one of the Fairfax Hunt races, I was just ecstatic,” said Wilson.
In the 1980s, Wilson taught internal medicine at the University of Florida for eight years.
“That’s when the whole neonatology movement took off—we were learning exciting things you can do with foals, extrapolating from human neonatology and pulling critical babies through,” she explained.
She joined the University of Minnesota staff in 1991. Today she and her husband Dr. Tracy Turner own ten horses including a Trakehner stallion, Volldampf, who is “gentle and a pleasure to ride, smooth, very sensitive with just enough fire to keep it exciting,” said Wilson. “When I competed in eventing, he was the only stallion. It’s a wonderful partnership.”
Her special interests include eastern encephalitis, equine stomach ulcers and nutrition for newborn foals.
Wilson serves on the board of directors and executive committee of Heifer International, board of directors of the American Association of Equine Practitioners and the advisory boards of the Minnesota Hooved Animal Rescue Foundation and the American Association of Equine Practitioners Foundation She also teaches equine health to the local chapters of U.S. Pony Club and has coached their musical drill teams.
“One of the things I am most excited about at the new UMEC facility is having the rehabilitation emphasis--that is one of my dreams for the Center that has come true,” said Wilson. “The other part is partnering with We Can Ride: there is a waiting list to be part of that program, and to have it centrally located in the Twin Cities is a huge deal, because it’s so much more convenient for families.”
“The UMEC is multifaceted: it has wonderful diagnostic tools, it is a facility that builds bridges to the community, and for the first time, we have a place to do mounted demonstrations as well as assess problems that may only be apparent when the animal is ridden,” said Wilson. “It is a real cornerstone for team building and growth for the equine community.”
| Dr. Julie Wilson is board certified by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine
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