About Us

The practice began with humble beginnings back in 1986 when it was founded by Dr Chris Lawler.
It started with a few rooms at Kembla Grange racetrack and as the only sole equine practice on the South Coast it quickly grew. With the help of locums Chris worked solely for 15 years until David was employed as an associate in 2001. After 2 years David and Chris combined and the business changed its name to the Illawarra Equine Centre which it currently trades as today.

Initially the core of the business was racetrack work but over time there has been an increasing amount of pleasure horse work and then with David’s keen interest in reproduction there has been an ever increasing reproduction case load.

In 2009 Chris sold his share of the business to Randwick Equine Centre to allow him to continue more with the racetrack side. He continues on as a consultant for the business and works one day a week.

The practice today is the only sole equine practice in the area and employs 4 full time veterinarians. We service a large coastal strip from Helensburgh to Ulladulla working on everything from the expensive racehorses to kids riding ponies. There is a clinic at Meroo Meadow (between Berry and Nowra) on 100 acres with a small hospital set up which allows us to further work-up and treat cases.

The lush green pasture is horse heaven so horses can  holiday while reproducing or recuperating from surgery or lameness. The practice puts a big emphasis on up to date equipment and training. We have all the latest toys such as digital radiology, ultrasonography and video endoscopy.

All veterinarians are encouraged to pursue post graduate education and all attend at least one conference a year to stay up to date with the latest advance in equine science.

The reproduction side of the business has grown exponentially where last year we had nearly 50 embryo recipient mares positively in foal and successfully implanted frozen embryos into our surrogate mares. We have now started a new business known as Embryonix which will  control all of the reproduction side of things.