Who We Are
Willow Lane Equine was founded in 2016 by Dr. Kaela Choquette. Dr. Choquette grew up on the North Shore of Massachusetts riding and showing in the hunters, jumpers and equitation. She started her career in the veterinary field very early as a veterinary assistant for Parrott Equine Associates. Through her work with the veterinarians of that practice, she focused her studies towards a life in the equine veterinary field.
She was awarded her Bachelors of Science from the Commonwealth Honors College of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst from which she graduated summa cum laude. Following graduation from UMass, she started her veterinary education at Tufts University. While there, she immediately immersed herself in the large animal hospital as a student technician and elective student, performing treatments on the inpatient animals at the hospital and assisting in surgery as time went on. During her clinical years, she traveled the country to visit as many different places as possible including UC Davis and Pioneer Equine in California, the New Bolton Center of the University of Pennsylvania, Mid-Atlantic Equine Medical Center in New Jersey and several practices in Ocala and Wellington, Florida.
During the rest of her elective time, Dr. Choquette spent as much time with the surgery, sports medicine and large animal ultrasound units at Tufts as possible and was awarded the excellence in Equine Surgery award upon graduation. She was also the recipient of several AAEP (American Association of Equine Practitioners) scholarships and travelled to Lexington, Kentucky to work in the vet box at the Rolex Three Day Event.
While in Wellington, Dr. Choquette interviewed for an internship position at New England Equine Practice (NEEP) in Patterson, New York and was soon offered the job. Following graduation, she moved out to NY and immediately started at NEEP. During this time, she was taught the crucial skills needed to excel as an equine veterinarian. Her surgery skills were honed as she scrubbed into surgeries of all kinds, her emergency medicine was especially enhanced by the many emergent situations she dealt with both within the hospital and on farm calls, her internal medicine education continued as she was taught how to manage the various ailments that affect the equine species and her eye for lameness was sharpened as she performed or assisted with hundreds of lameness and pre-purchase exams.
Following completion of her internship, Dr. Choquette was able to stay in the area working for another local practice. During that time, she completed her training in animal chiropractic at Options for Animals in Wellsville, KS and became certified by the IVCA (International Veterinary Chiropractic Association). This additional skill has been quite helpful to her practice and the horses love it!
As the time came for her career to take its next step, she decided it was time to go out on her own and Willow Lane Equine was formed. She looks forward to continuing to offer exceptional veterinary care to the equestrians and their horses in the Western CT and Eastern NY area.
