Equine practice draws new grads, but retention pressures remain: full analysis

A new EquiManagement article is putting fresh detail behind a question many equine practices are already wrestling with: what will it take to bring new veterinarians into equine medicine, and keep them there? In “Perspectives on Entering Equine Practice,” Amy L. Grice describes a profession that’s making progress on recruitment, but still asking early-career veterinarians to weigh passion for horses against long hours, emergency coverage, compensation, and practice culture. (equimanagement.com)

That tension didn’t appear overnight. Equine practice has spent years confronting workforce and sustainability concerns, with AAEP launching its Equine Veterinary Sustainability Initiative in 2022 around five pressure points: compensation, emergency coverage, practice culture, internships, and support for veterinary students. The organization says the effort was a response to shortages of equine practitioners in many parts of the U.S., and notes that historically only a small share of new graduates have entered equine practice directly, with another group pursuing equine internships before deciding on a long-term path. (aaep.org)

Grice’s latest article suggests some of those reform efforts may be gaining traction. She reports that 7.8% of 2025 veterinary graduates chose equine associate or intern roles, nearly 2 percentage points above 2023 and 2024 levels. Compensation has also moved upward: graduates entering equine associate positions directly from veterinary school reported an average starting salary of $95,611 in 2025, a sharp rise from the roughly $58,000 average cited six years earlier. At the same time, the workload remains heavy. EquiManagement cites the 2026 AVMA Economic State of the Veterinary Profession report showing equine practitioners averaging 54.8 hours per week, while an AVMA report surfaced in search results lists full-time equine practice even higher, at 57.7 hours on average in 2025 reporting. That discrepancy likely reflects differences in report year or methodology, but either way, equine remains among the most time-intensive practice types. (equimanagement.com)

The article also highlights what early-career veterinarians say they want from employers. In the 2024 AVMA/AAEP equine economic report, 92% of respondents said mentorship was a reason they accepted a job offer, and 84% cited the people in the practice. That aligns with AAEP’s more recent early-career survey, which found that respondents who felt their path supported career longevity pointed to strong work-life balance, supportive mentorship, collaborative culture, growth opportunities, shared on-call duty, CE funding, and four-day workweeks. More than half of respondents who completed an internship said it made them more likely to stay in equine practice, suggesting that internships can be a retention tool when they function as true training programs. (equimanagement.com)

Still, the warning signs are hard to ignore. Grice includes a candid account from an intern who said the clinic was understaffed and using interns to cover technical roles rather than deliver the educational experience that had been promised. Separate EquiManagement survey data published in 2026 show that among respondents within five years of graduation, 36.8% were currently considering leaving equine practice or had definitely decided to leave. Across the broader respondent pool, emergency on-call duty slightly surpassed lifestyle and work hours as a contributing factor in considering departure, while low salary, practice culture, and mental health and stress remained major concerns. (equimanagement.com)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this story is less about whether equine medicine can attract idealistic new graduates, and more about whether practices can convert interest into durable careers. The signals are mixed but useful. Recruitment metrics and salary trends suggest the field is becoming more competitive. Retention data suggest that progress is uneven, and that early-career veterinarians are closely evaluating whether a practice’s culture matches its recruiting message. For clinics, that raises the stakes on mentorship design, internship integrity, technician support, after-hours expectations, and schedule structure. In practical terms, equine employers may need to treat sustainability as an operating model, not a branding message. (equimanagement.com)

What to watch: The next phase will likely center on implementation. AAEP has already built toolkits and guidance around culture, internships, and sustainability, but the real test is whether more practices adopt shared emergency models, four-day workweeks, clearer mentorship expectations, and compensation structures that make equine careers viable for veterinarians carrying educational debt. If those changes spread, the recent uptick in equine entry could hold. If not, the profession may continue to recruit motivated graduates only to lose them within the first few years. (aaep.org)