Our Team
Supported by a highly skilled nursing team, visiting specialist surgeons, and experienced administrative staff, the practice is dedicated to providing high-quality, compassionate care.
Veterinarians
DR TONY DREW
SENIOR VETERINARIAN AND PARTNERTony Drew graduated from the University of Sydney in 1987, before remaining at Camden for another year doing an internship. This was followed by a year in racetrack practice in Melbourne, before Tony relocated to the Hawkesbury and HEVC. Tony obtained membership of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists by examination in Equine Medicine in 1992, before then turning his hand to surgery, which is his passion. Out of hours, Tony will be found on the golf course, always in search of that perfect round.
Dr KYLIE HARDWICKE
SENIOR VETERINARIAN AND PARTNER
Dr Kylie has been around horses since before she could walk. Her dad was a well respected Jockey and her mum owned and managed one of the leading Halter Quarter Horse Studs in Australia.
Kylie graduated from Sydney University in 2009 and first started at Hawkesbury Equine in 2010. Kylie has co-authored numerous scientific papers on equine cloning and ICSI. Her fresh embryo transfer rates exceed 95% putting her as one of Australia’s leading embryo transfer veterinarians. Kylie become a partner of Hawkesbury Equine in April 2026.
Kylie’s main areas of interest include intensive care medical cases, sick neonatal foals and advanced reproduction technologies.
dr john parbery
Senior Associate Veterinarian Former founding partner of Hawkesbury EquineDr Parbery was a founding partner of Hawkesbury Equine Veterinary Centre having established the practice back in 1978. John brings over 40 years of experience in equine and alpaca veterinary practice and is widely respected within the industry. His career has spanned all aspects of equine and small ruminant medicine. In April 2026 John stepped back from partnership duties although is staying on for his loyal clients by limited bookings.
Senior Associate VeterinarianCris joined the practice 1995 as a new graduate, giving him over 20 years experience as an equine practitioner. Cris has spent time working at various Equine Practices in the UK and the USA. He pioneered our artificial reproduction program, after spending time studying techniques in America. He now coordinates much of our semen collection, freezing, artificial insemination and embryo transfers. Cris also has a special interest all aspects of performance horse medicine and racehorse practice.
dr cris clark
Dr doug fountain
Senior Associate VeterinarianBorn and bred in Scotland, with both parents as vets, Doug graduated from Glasgow University Vet School in 1994. After working in mixed practice in the English Midlands for 2 years, he had his first taste of Australia in 1996 working for a year as a locum vet.
He then worked for 2 ½ years in equine practice in the London outskirts, before returning to Australia in 2000 to join the HEVC team.
The majority of Doug’s work is with the performance horse, with particular interests in lameness investigation and artificial breeding work.
Doug enjoys scuba diving, snowboarding and racing his motorbikes, whether that be on bitumen or dirt!
dr arja pontinen
Dr Arja studied in Tartu (Estonias heart and soul) , completing her degree of DVM in 2013. After completing her DVM she completed a rotating internship at the university of Sydney.
Arja has completed post graduate certificates in Advanced Veterinary Practice with an internal medicine focus and Level 12 certificate of Equine Veterinary Dentistry EVDS 2025.
Arjas main areas of interest are Dentistry, internal medicine, ophthalmology and welfare.
In her spare time Arja loves spending time hiking, kayaking and couch surfing with her 2 dogs Sparky and Aslak learning sheep herding, nose works and tracking.
Associate Veterinarian
dr sally Rizzuto
Associate VeterinarianDr Sally graduated from Sydney University with a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine in 2020 and started working at HEVC as a new graduate.
Sally has extensive experience riding and working with horses professionally, having worked in dressage barns, as an accredited sports massage therapist and high level dressage competitor.
Sally is interested in all aspects of sports medicine, especially lameness, poor performance, nutrition and gastric disease.
In Sallys spare time you will find her riding her horses.
Dr Nicholas Kennegieter BVSc DipVetClinStud, PhD, FACVS, FAVA and Registered specialist in Equine Surgery has been consulting for Hawkesbury Equine Veterinary centre for almost 20 years.
Dr Nick attends Hawkesbury Equine to perform specialist orthopaedic surgeries such as arthroscopies for OCDs and bone cysts etc, tenoscopies and tendon repairs, fracture repairs, sinus surgeries and various other specialist surgeries.
dr Nick Kannegieter
Dr Hadley Willsallen BVSc, MANZCVs, DACVS-LA and registered specialist in Equine Surgery has been a consultant specialist surgeon for Hawkesbury Equine along with Dr Nick Kannegieter since 2014.
Dr Hadley is a consultant specialist and attends Hawkesbury Equine for specialist surgeries such as arthroscopies and laparoscopic standing surgeries etc.
dr Hadley Willsallen
Support Team
Office Managerjoanne swarbrick
bridget allison
Bridget initially started out as a work placement student in 2018. She graduated from her Cert IV of vet nursing in 2019 after which she has stayed on with us full time and was promoted to head nurse in 2024.
Bridgets favourite part of the job is assisting Dr Tony in surgery, placing IV catheters and making sure the hospital is running smoothly.
In her spare time Bridget enjoys playing netball, running with her dog “River” and riding her horse.
Head Nurse Nursekaitlyn brasington
Katie attended her first horse race at 3 days of age and has been around horses ever since.
Katie is a qualified Cert IV veterinary nurse. She started working at Hawkesbury Equine in 2018 and is an instrumental part of the team ensuring all patients are cared for to the highest standards. Katie’s favourite parts of the job are working with alpacas, foals, rehabilitation of RSPCA cases and assisting in colic surgeries.
When Katie is not at work she can be found with her horses and daughter Charlotte.
Qualified NurseKatie Xuereb
Daniel started at Hawkesbury Equine in 2023 where he has quickly become an invaluable team member helping clients in reception along with assisting the vets with stallion collections and the handling of the more difficult horses.
Daniels favourite part of the job is working with the stallions.
Outside of work Daniel can be found with his beautiful Welsh Mountain ponies or the gym.
Stallion Handler and Receptionist