Linda Hagerman, DVM

All little girls love horses, right? Dr. Linda Hagerman was smitten from a young age with caring for all animals, but had a special affinity for horses. Being a veterinarian was never in doubt for her. Born and raised in Michigan, Dr. Hagerman attended Michigan State University and graduated from the veterinary school in 1989. She then moved to Seattle to be surrounded by great horse country, real mountains and beautiful water.

The early part of her career (9 years) was spent on the racetracks in Washington and California. Dr. Hagerman was lucky enough to work at the historic Longacres racetrack in Renton before it was torn down. The racetrack was a great place to start her career as the caseload was high and her mentors taught her well. It’s there that she developed an eye for lameness, surgical skills and the ability to treat trauma with a calm, collected and reassuring manner.

The racing industry was not sustaining unfortunately so she left to care for companion and performance horses in the “real world” and it’s here that she’s found her home and her calling. Dr. Hagerman has been an athlete all of her life and as such, she especially enjoys helping horses maximize performance and limit injury. She also realizes that excellence in athletics starts with basic healthcare. This is the strength of Tacoma Equine Hospital, combining outstanding preventative horse care with advanced specialty care for those who need it.

Dr. Hagerman became the owner of Tacoma Equine Hospital in 2000, a practice that has been a part of the Pierce County horse community since the 1970s. She feels compelled and honored to continue to grow our practice from those humble beginnings. The excitement she has for providing outstanding care and compassionate service to horses and their owners is reflected in all of our employees and the results we continue to exhibit.

Her passion lies in performance lameness diagnosis and treatment. Dr. Hagerman is proud to offer 30 years of experience in this field, the ability to ride her patients to help her find the source of subtle lameness, leading edge diagnostic equipment, therapies and surgical treatments, and a commitment to athletic injury-specific continuing education. She is currently pursuing lameness certification with ISELP, an educational association whose goal is to provide contemporary knowledge and techniques in the continually evolving field of equine locomotor analysis. Dr. Hagerman routinely uses digital ultrasound and radiography and advanced therapies like IRAP, PRP and cold laser, but always from a common sense, practical approach. She is pleased to be called the “veterinarian’s veterinarian” and to be asked to consult on difficult lameness and upper level prepurchase exams. (Source)

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