MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: Dr. Anne Moretta VMD, MS, CVSMT, CVA

Longtime dual Florida Veterinary Medical Association/Florida Association of Equine Practitioners (FVMA/FAEP) member and FAEP council member, Dr. Anne Moretta’s life has been defined by a lifelong love for horses.

From pony rides to a professional show career and veterinary school, Dr. Moretta puts decades of skill and knowledge into her veterinary practice at Wellington Equine Sports Medicine.

Here, she believes in a comprehensive approach to helping horses achieve their full potential: looking at the big picture, helping the whole horse, finding root causes for poor performance, and using an arsenal of remedies nearly as vast as her career experience.

An Early Love

“My parents told me that before I could walk, I would insist on going on every pony ride we saw,” Dr. Moretta said. “Growing up in the Northern Virginia-Maryland-D.C. area, all of my weekends revolved around riding. I was always trying different styles of riding, different breeds of horses, and every discipline I came in contact with.”

When she was younger, Dr. Moretta was in the stables every day after school and later, after work. She showed every weekend in junior and working hunters and rode as a professional in the ring and hunter field through college. During her college years, she also exercised Thoroughbred racehorses at Belmont racetrack.

“I have always had a good intuition for being able to sense what is bothering a horse, and I became very good at sensing subtle problems from my time watching so many horses at the Thoroughbred and Standardbred tracks,” she recalled. "Some of my favorite moments have been sitting behind a horse jogging at sunrise in South Florida."

After graduating college early, she stayed on to do her masters work while continuing to train horses for three-day eventing, hunting and showing on the side.

During this time, she began working with an equine vet who shined a light on her future career path by suggesting she "make her avocation her full-time vocation and go to vet school." Immediately following his advice, she headed to the University of Pennsylvania for veterinary school.

During her time there, she continued to, train, buy, sell, breed, and ride horses as often as she could. Buying and selling helped her pay for many of her vet school expenses. At one point, she even bought the Radnor Hunt Master’s horse, Cyrano.

"I was never able to replace that wonderful horse and retired him to the farm in Pennsylvania where he lived to 45 and his pony companion to 42. He was a large Draft Thoroughbred cross who if he could not jump the 'trappy' fence, he would simply clear his way straight through the fence, leading the way for the rest of the hunt field! He taught me to not just hear, but to truly listen with all my senses—and to hang on..."

A Lifelong Career

Dr. Moretta's first year in practice was a dichotomy of two worlds— working with high-end stakes Thoroughbred racehorses, Amish road horses and breeding farms.

Dr. Moretta’s skills were put to the test right out of veterinary school when her boss became unable to work halfway into her first year.

“I basically just graduated vet school and was now doing all of the high-end lameness and breeding work alone... I was so fortunate that my veterinary school community was so supportive,” she said.

“Several of my veterinary instructors at University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School would come out on weekends to the practice. They would help me do lameness checks, surgical procedures, injections, reproductive work, etc. to further my education and support my solo work in the practice until my employer was able to work again. They were pillars of selfless giving.”

Following her busy first year, she went on to open her own practice in Pennsylvania, Maroche Equine Clinic, which rapidly grew thanks to a retiring veterinarian putting Dr. Moretta's name and phone number on his machine to refer his clients to her. Dr. Moretta's practice included working with Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing, all aspects of sports medicine, breeding, and the yearling and racehorse sales industry.

The next step was to establish Maroche Equine Consulting. Dr. Moretta used her diverse background and business skills to help her clients buy, sell, and race their horses around the world. She personally bred, raised, and sold over twenty Standardbred yearlings of her own at different venues over the years.

Her experiences and course work/externships traveling abroad for many years introduced her to equine acupuncture and chiropractic work, where she found her niche by using eastern medicine to complement the sports medicine skillset she already employed in the US. With new knowledge and Maroche Equine Sports Medicine in Pennsylvania, she followed her sports horse niche to work in Wellington, Florida, integrating the two practices to establish Wellington Equine Sports Medicine.

Dr. Moretta brings a special approach not only to her sports medicine and rehabilitation practice, but also to her involvement in the veterinary community.

"Communication and education are paramount in veterinary medicine at any level, " Dr. Moretta said. "Mentoring and encouraging college students to go to veterinary school through positive experiences, in the office or field, is important."

In 2000, with great compassion, Dr. Moretta established Stony Run Veterinary Center (small animal) on a neighboring property to Maroche Equine Clinic. Dr. Moretta and her late husband wanted to give a young, talented veterinarian, Dr. Katherine Chronister, a chance to own her own practice, which she would not have had the opportunity to do where she was working at the time.

In 2006, prior to its merging with FVMA, Dr. Moretta joined the FAEP.

"Our FAEP council members continue to be strong, motivated individuals who come from varied equine practices and backgrounds," Dr. Moretta said of the FAEP. "Our common goals focus on organizing quality educational programs for our members. I truly enjoy the team-oriented environment of our FVMA/FAEP symposiums and our participating members who support us."

A Continuing Passion

Though most of her time is now spent with clients’ horses, she still rides and raises Hanoverians and miniature spotted donkeys.

Dr. Moretta continues to also make time for her larger veterinary community by serving on the FAEP executive council and as the advising veterinarian of The Practitioner, the FAEP/FVMA’s equine-exclusive veterinary publication. In this role, she helps curate content and ensures relevant articles are published. Her involvement has been invaluable to the Florida equine veterinary community and the many lives she has touched along the way.

"I believe we are at crossroads in veterinary medicine," Dr. Moretta says when looking at the future.

"There are many new challenges on the horizon as to how we will practice and deal with change. In particular, mental wellness is a challenge in the profession, and it is vital we do all we can to help ensure there is 'Not one more vet' (NOMV) lost - Please support NOMV. As a large, diverse professional group, we all have the opportunity to support each other through effective communication, legislation, and education. We need everyone to be an active participant. I strive daily to be involved and help shape future change. From participation with 4H to encouraging and mentoring veterinary students to connecting with fellow veterinarians—my door is always open. Will you accept the challenge?"