About Ovens Valley Equine

Ovens Valley Equine is located in picturesque North-East Victoria only 9km from Wangaratta and 5km from the Hume Freeway. We are situated on 42 hectares of prime grazing land beside the Ovens River on the Great Alpine Road, Tarrawingee.

Ovens Valley Equine opened in August 2008 and has grown in this time to become one of the premier equine veterinary and breeding establishments in North East Victoria. We offer specialised equine facilities and accommodation in addition to a wide range of equine veterinary and reproductive services. Our business values are based on delivering high quality veterinary medicine with a focus on customer service. We believe that all conduct should be ethical and respectful and operate in an environment of mutual respect, cooperation and teamwork.

All our staff are selected for their extensive horse experience and are actively involved in the equine industry. In short our staff can all speak horse and this ensures that your horse’s care and handling, while staying at Ovens Valley Equine, is of the highest standard.

Our Team

Allison Arnott

Allison has been obsessed with horses since she can remember. After 2 years hard saving of her pocket money she bought her first horse at age 11. Her parents, not being horse orientated at all, were terrified!

She then proceeded to drag her long suffering parents around the country from gymkhana to show throughout her school years. An interest in Australian Stock Horses developed and for the latter part of this time she was seen going from the Best Hack over 15HH to the Working Stock Horse ring at breakneck speed.

After completing HSC (showing her age now) she worked and travelled overseas for several years before entering university with the aim of studying veterinary science. She was accepted into the veterinary science degree course at the University of Queensland in 1990 and graduated with first class honours in 1994.

Allison worked in rural practice both here and in England prior to gaining a job at the Goulburn Valley Equine Hospital. She worked at GVEH for 5 years where her duties largely involved equine ambulatory, stud and reproductive medicine. She also obtained significant exposure to the heavy medical and surgical caseload at the hospital.

In 2008 she decided to start her own equine practice in the beautiful Ovens Valley near Wangaratta. Based from a 42 hectare property on the Great Alpine Road at Tarrawingee, Ovens Valley Equine continues to expand offering equine veterinary and reproductive services to clients from the North East region and beyond.

Allison has two young daughters and is surrounded by an incredibly supportive extended family and staff who allow her to continue to practice as a busy equine veterinarian and also be a mum.

She continues to breed Australian Stock Horses and has a special interest in polocrosse which she played for many years until life got too busy! She was thrilled to watch one of the Stock Horses she bred win three champion horse awards at the National Polocrosse Championships in Albury in 2016.

In addition to her obsession with horses Allison is very passionate about all things to do with snow, mountains and skiing and can be found (or maybe not) with some boards on her feet every winter. She is also very happy to go travelling... Anywhere! And cherishes quality time spent with her girls.

Dr Kirstie Flesch BVB/DVM

Dr Kirstie’s love of horses began at a very young age, attending monthly horse sales in North Yorkshire and weekly riding lessons with her horse obsessed grandma sue. Her love of horses grew rapidly with Kirstie taking her first equine job as a stable hand at 12yrs old to pay for her weekly riding lessons. Her love of horse went on to guide her traveling and career progression.

Growing up in Northern England she worked for well-established hunters, showjumpers and eventers whilst competed at local equestrian events as a sponsored rider. She then followed her riding career to Australia in 2010. Gaining her Australian citizenship via a role as an equine trainer for an international thoroughbred racing company.

She then went on to complete a Double degree - Bachelor of Veterinary Science and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at The University of Sydney graduating in 2023.

After graduating she took a rotating internship with Scone Equine Group and after completing her time there, she then took a locum position at a mixed animal Vet clinic focusing mainly on small and large animal surgery.

Kirstie joined the team at Ovens Valley Equine in September 2025 in a part time seasonal role and in June 2026 decided to take on a full time role at the clinic. Kirstie is hoping to sit her Equine membership exams in 2028 and is very keen to expand her Equine surgical and medicine knowledge and skill set.

Kirstie’s main professional interests are Equine Surgery, Sports Medicine and Equine reproduction.

In her spare time Kirstie enjoys riding her horse, spending time hiking with her husband and there four adorable hounds, and enjoying their rural farm property.

Imogen bongart

To be supplied...

Keith & Yvonne Arnott

Keith started work at Ovens Valley Equine in 2013. He has a long business background and owned and ran his own small business with his wife Yvonne for 33 years. They sold their business in 2010 and attempted to semi retire... before getting bored.

Keith is our administration and logistics manager for the majority of the year. He is often the person on the end of the phone when you call as well as being responsible for business administration and organising the logistics necessary to keep the business running smoothly. He can be found doing everything from creditors and budgets to driving semen shipments to couriers and picking up supplies from town. Yvonne also assists with solving the many logistical challenges that occur at Ovens Valley Equine during the breeding season.

They take some time off to work at Mount Hotham in the winter during Ovens Valley Equine’s quiet season. This satisfies Keith’s passion for skiing and Yvonne’s passion for good coffee!

Dr Adelaide Ellison

From a very young age Adelaide has always been animal and particularly horse obsessed, and can’t remember a time when she didn’t want to be a vet. Growing up in Melbourne, it was difficult to satisfy her passion for horses and the country, but Adelaide was determined, and growing up was at her grandparent’s and friend’s farms every chance she could. She eventually wore her parents down and managed to take her very own horse to pony club!

After finishing school Adelaide travelled over to the United Kingdom, working as a polo groom for two years in the beautiful Cotswolds and backpacking through Europe between the busy polo seasons. It was here that she really fostered her interest in performance horse medicine and lameness. After somewhat satiating the travelling bug, Adelaide came back to Australia to study Veterinary Science at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga. Throughout her studies Adelaide’s interest in a career as an equine vet developed further as she worked as an after-hours nurse at the CSU Equine Hospital, getting exposure to a variety of interesting emergency cases.

Adelaide graduated from Charles Sturt University in July, 2022 and moved up to the Upper Hunter Valley to pursue her equine interests and complete the 12-month rotating internship at Scone Equine Hospital. Here she gained valuable experience in all aspects of equine practice, including surgery, anaesthesia, medicine and intensive care, yearling sales radiography and sports medicine. Adelaide absolutely loved her busy time at Scone Equine but was excited to come back down south to the North East, an area she has always adored.

In September 2023, Adelaide joined the team at Ovens Valley Equine, having loved her time here on placement as a veterinary student in 2021. Whilst she is passionate about all aspects of equine ambulatory practice, Adelaide has a particular love for sports medicine and lameness.

When not at work, you’ll find Adelaide spending time with her husband Brad, their collies Sally and Sam and cat, Margaret Scratcher. They love everything outdoors, including riding their horses and camping and are also very excited to explore all the wineries in the North East!

Renae Walsh, PhD
Veterinary Technologist / Nurse

Renae was born with the horse-obsession gene, which remains a source of ongoing mystery to her horse-terrified family. Growing up in North-East Victoria without a horse (which is still a sore point), she spent her childhood years hanging around with friends to help with their ponies.

Following high school, Renae moved to Melbourne to undertake university studies in her other love, science. She completed a Bachelor of Science degree (Hons) at the University of Melbourne, majoring in Microbiology and Immunology. This was followed by a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in medicine (neuroscience) at Monash University, completed in 2005.

Renae established a successfully scientific research career over the next 15 years in the fields of infectious diseases, immunology, protein biochemistry and vaccine development. She has travelled overseas extensively for both scientific conferences and personal enjoyment. In 2017, her research was acquired to establish a biotechnology start-up company, and she took the opportunity to work remotely, returning to North-East Victoria with her husband Michael, and children Harrison and Claire.

Upon returning to the country, Renae promptly started collecting lots of animals, including several horses. She also commenced further university studies part-time, completing a Bachelor of Veterinary Technology (with veterinary nursing) at CSU in 2024.

In January 2025, Renae joined the amazing team at Ovens Valley Equine, which satisfies her passion for all things horse, while also requiring a fair bit of scientific and diagnostic expertise. Outside of work, she can be found riding her horse through the state forest, and spending time with her family.

Wyatt Foderaro

Wyatt joined the Ovens Valley Equine team in June 2022. Born and bred in Chicago, Wyatt attended Northern Illinois University where he received a Bachelor in Business Marketing and Communications. Always a lover of adventure, Wyatt has spent time living all around the U.S. and Australia, including Alaska, Tasmania, New South Wales and his current home, Victoria. Wyatt is extremely well-rounded, with business experience in a multitude of industries including manufacturing, wellness, hospitality, and the Victorian Thoroughbred industry.

Wyatt is your first port of call on a day-to-day basis, you can find him arranging the appointment schedule, running accounts, and tending to your administrative requests. If you can’t find Wyatt in the clinic, be sure to follow the booming American laugh and he won’t be far!

In his off-time, Wyatt enjoys spending time planting trees and plants wherever there is room and traveling with his partner.