[email protected] (512) 818-0377
Dr. St. Peter, known by most as Doc, was fortunate to have been raised on a Quarter Horse breeding farm in Portland, Oregon. Since early childhood she has raised, trained, and showed champion Quarter Horses in 4-H, open, and AQHA circuits. Living on a breeding and show farm gave her a fantastic opportunity to see horses at every phase of their development, and instilled in her the desire to be a veterinarian. In pursuit of this dream she volunteered regularly with her local veterinarian, but was discouraged from the profession due to her small stature. This only strengthened her resolve, however, at the age of fourteen, she was determined to succeed despite it being a male dominated profession.
Her educational journey began at Portland State University where she obtained her Batchelor of Science in Biology. Graduating with honors, she then applied and was accepted to the very competitive veterinary program at Purdue University. While at Purdue, she discovered a love for surgery, and upon completion of her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine with an equine track, she pursued an internship in equine surgery at Chino Valley Equine Hospital in California. Setting herself apart from her peers, Dr. St. Peter elected to accept a residency in large animal surgery at the University of Florida, and is now one of only a handful of surgeons as a board certified surgeon.
Dr. St. Peter has a unique love of animals. She has developed a veterinary hospital whose goal is not simply to heal injured animals, but to nurture and bond with her patients. Remembering her days on the breeding farm, Dr. St Peter said, “when one of our horses got hurt my sisters would run crying to the house, but I would stay and help the veterinarian, and then wait up all night with the horse until it felt better.” More than 30 years later, Doc is as passionate about veterinary medicine as that little girl on an Oregon breeding farm.
Doc likes to garden and has a passion, second only to animals, for making things grow! She enjoys long walks with her dogs, “Anna,” “Finder,” and “Momma”; and trail rides on her horses, “Peppy” and “Dot.” Dr. St. Peter has a penchant for antiquing and frequents flea markets on the weekends. She spends much of her free time on the ranch taking care of her assortment of misfit, orphaned rescue animals, like her cow herd: “Ellen,” “Oprah,” “Filly,” “Molly Moo,” “Buffalo,” and “Petunia.”
Purdue University – Doctorate Veterinarian Medicine 1991
University of Florida – Resident, Large Animal Surgery 1995