Meet the Team

Find out more information about our professional team

David Turley

MVB MRCVS

David graduated from UCD, Dublin in 2011.  He worked in mixed practice in Devon for a year and then moved into an equine practice, in busy Surrey, for five years.  He moved back home to Northern Ireland in 2017 and set up an equine practice.  At work he enjoys vettings, lameness and performance work, as well as scanning mares and equine dentistry.  He has an interest in equine eyes.

David provides veterinary care at Downpatrick and Down Royal racecourses, and at point to points in Tyrella, Loughanmore, Largy, Kirkistown and Taylorstown.

David is on the committee of the Irish Equine Veterinary Association (IEVA) and is an active member of the CPD sub-committee. He organises equine courses for vets throughout Ireland.  He is also on the committee of the Association of Irish Racecourse Veterinary Surgeons (AIRCVS).

In his spare time, he enjoys following the racing and point to point scene, and watching live sport.  He also enjoys spending time with his kids at pony club and playing rugby on a Saturday when he can.

Christopher R. Akkari

BVMedSci (Hons) BVM BVS (Hons) MRCVS

Chris graduated from The University of Nottingham in 2013. Following graduation he completed an equine internship at the prestigious Oakham Equine Hospital. It was here, working under a very experienced team of surgeons and sports horse practitioners, that Chris developed his passion for imaging, orthopaedic assessments and lameness work ups. Following his year at Oakham Chris moved on to become an ambulatory vet at the world renowned Rossdales. Chris later rejoined the team at Oakham into a position with both ambulatory and hospital based roles.

More recently Chris practiced at Tullyraine Equine Clinic where he further developed his interest and experience in lameness and poor performance.
Chris is an accredited FEI treating vet, and has proven experience working at the races at both Down Royal and Downpatrick. Chris looks forward to sharing, and expanding, his experiences with Howard and all their clients at KR Equine.

For the past three years Chris has been an unashamed member of the CrossFit community, socialising, keeping fit and occasionally competing. As a cycling enthusiast in 2010 Chris proudly completed an unassisted cycle from Canada to Mexico in aid of The British Heart Foundation. He received a nomination for the charities “Most Inspiring Award” for his achievements. Aside from fitness Chris enjoys walking with his dogs Oscar and Skoda, who may well become familiar faces around the clinic.

Kara Johnston

BVSc Cert AVP MRCVS

Kara graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2015. Following graduation she worked for a short period at Ridings Equine Vets in Yorkshire as an equine ambulatory vet. Following this she spent 18 months as an on site Vet at a large stud in North Yorkshire, her time was spent looking after the stud while working alongside reproduction specialists. It was here Kara developed her love for equine stud medicine.
She took this love to her next job at Hird and Partners in West Yorkshire where she had an ambulatory role with a main focus in stud medicine. Kara’s main roles involved many cases in frozen and chilled artificial insemination and some cases of embryo transfer.
Kara is an accredited FEI treating vet and also has a qualification in Equine Acupuncture. She completed her Advanced Veterinary Practitioner certificate in 2021, with a reproductive and stud medicine bias.

Kara has returned to Northern Ireland to be closer to family. In her spare time Kara enjoys walking her two mintature daschunds who can always be found in her car. She also enjoys horse riding.

Catherine McConnell

MRCVS

Catherine graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2022 when she then decided to return home to County Antrim to work in a small animal practice. During this time she also locumed with Coastal Equine Vets to cover some routine and out of hours equine work. Catherine has a keen interest in all aspects of equine practice but particularly in stud and sports medicine.
In her spare time Catherine enjoys spending time with her own horses at home, in the gym, or out walking with her dog Oreo.
Catherine WON the Petplan Veterinary Awards vet of the year for 2024 and is also a finalist in the Agria Young Vet of the year.

Victoria Cairnduff

Equine Veterinary Technician/Administrator

Victoria has been working within the veterinary environment for the last 21 years in mixed and small animal clinics. She joined us recently when looking for a change of scenery and new opportunities within the animal care industry.

Before KR Equine, Victoria worked in an emergency hospital for small animals where she had been for over 16 years. Here she has gained plentiful experience in reception and clinical administrative roles.

She is passionate about caring for all species of animals but her three horses fill up most of her spare time.

Jane Bruce

Equine Veterinary Technician/Administrator

As a graduate of Greenmount College, Jane will support Howard and Chris as an equine veterinary nursing assistant at KR Equine Clinic.

Jane has a keen interest in equine veterinary nursing having previously assisted Howard for a number of years in his practice work.

Jane currently sits on the British Horse Society (Ireland) Committee and has acted as their Welfare Representative for over 12 years. In London in 2012 the British Horse Society awarded Jane an Award for ‘Outstanding dedication to Equine Welfare’. She currently acts as the Northern Welfare Adviser for The Irish Horse Welfare Trust (Wicklow). Jane has previously worked in an equine welfare capacity in Kenya and in South East Spain.

In her spare time Jane enjoys competing and showing her Connemara pony, in a wide variety of disciplines. She has represented Ireland (on the Irish Long Distance Riding Association team) at the Home Internationals in both Scotland and Wales. Aside from equine hobbies Jane enjoys walking her Cavalier Spaniel.

Register with KR Equine Clinic today

Register with KR Equine Clinic today

Address

KR Equine Clinic, 53 Ringneill Road, Comber, Newtownards, BT23 6EF

Opening Hours

Mon-Fri 8.30am-5pm,
Excluding bank holidays