Forty Years of
2 a.m.
Miracles

Dr. Sheila McDonald doesn’t just care for horses – she’s built her life around them. She graduated first in her class from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 1982, then went straight to the University of California, Davis, for an internship in Equine Medicine. Even then, she knew exactly where she was headed.

“The first equine-only clinic in the BC Interior – opened in 1983, still going strong.”

In 1983 she returned to her native Okanagan and founded Okanagan Equine Veterinary Services – a pioneering move that gave the Interior its first dedicated equine clinic. Over 40 years later, the practice is still driven by the same curiosity and commitment that put her at the top of her graduating class. While her practice has always been full-service equine, Sheila’s heart is firmly in reproduction. She has spent her career mastering every facet of mare and stallion management, reproductive surgery, and the high-stakes world of foaling – the 2 a.m. calls, the tricky presentations, the sheer joy of a healthy foal standing for the first time. She equally loves the puzzle of internal medicine and the craft of wound repair. Off the clock – to the extent that ever happens in equine practice – Sheila breeds sport ponies and Thoroughbred racehorses, and has owned and managed a number of stallions over the past four decades. Her clients benefit from a vet who isn’t just reading about reproduction: she’s living it.