my kingdom for a horse!
by joan medlicott

That might very well be veterinarian, Ann Stuart’s, motto. From the beginning Ann Stuart marched to a different drummer. Coming from a family steeped in archaeology, she choose not to follow suit but to blend her interest in biology with her love of horses and people.

Born in Washington D.C., Ann was raised in Chapel Hill where her father received his doctorate in archaeology. “I have loved horses as far back as I remember,” Ann said. “As a child I played with plastic horses, and I remember the thrill of cantering along to school imitating a horse, feeling exhilarated.”

Her striking blue eyes flash. “It’s not just about medicine and science,” Ann says, “It’s about the relationship that people have with their animals and my relationship with those owners” Her clients become friends.

After a stint working for a veterinarian in Asheville, Ann made a farm call to a riding center in Barnardsville, fell in love with the area, bought a home, and established her own business. That was fourteen hard-working and happy years ago. “What I like best about my work,” she said, “is the warmth and sense of good will that exists within the horse community.” What she likes least are emergencies in the middle of the night, especially a cold winter night. But she goes! Ann’s work as a veterinarian includes not only Buncombe and Madison counties—she is on the road much of her week making sick calls in Haywood, Henderson, Yancey, and Jackson counties. Ann’s business is expanding: she has purchased land on the Barnardsville Road just off of 19-23 and will soon erect a small-animal clinic with a hospital for horses attached. Several veterinarians will join her staff there.

As you can guess, Ann is a maverick, a free-spirited and independent woman, and does things her way. So what does she do for fun? Each summer Ann travels to Mexico for several weeks to assist one of her archaeologist brothers in photographing hieroglyphics on ancient ruins. These photos will later be studied and the hieroglyphics translated. Ann also takes great pleasure in endurance riding on a fine Arabian horse. These are long rides, fifteen, twenty or more miles, several times a week. As part of an equestrian endurance riding team, she plans to be in Dubaie for an upcoming international endurance riding event. Did I mention that Ann Stuart is a fearless woman?

See Celia Miles' article on Joan Medlicott.