Robert P. Franklin, DVM DACVIM

Dr. Rob Franklin is a board certified equine specialist and has a special interest in sports medicine, lameness and advanced diagnostic work-ups in seriously ill patients.

Dr. Franklin is a graduate of Tivy High School in Kerrville and attended veterinary school, graduating with Honors, at Texas A&M University in 1999. He performed his internship in Ventura Country, California working on English Sport horses (dressage, jumping, hunters), Western athletes (team penning, cutting, reining) and Arabian Show horses. Following internship he completed his 3-year specialist’s residency at the University of Florida in 2003. The University of Florida is the pioneer of equine neonatal medicine and in the center of Thoroughbred breeding and training facilities. Dr. Franklin was at ground zero during the West Nile epidemic in 2001-2 admitting over 100 clinical cases to the ICU during this time. His research studies included the study of EPM prevention, determining survival in neonatal foals and monitoring cardiac health in speed athletes.

Post residency, he worked as a specialist, establishing the first intensive care unit at the Goulburn Valley Equine Hospital in Shepparton, Victoria, Australia. Victoria is home to a large population of Thoroughbred and Standardbred racehorses in training and breeding farms. Dr. Franklin returned to Ocala, Florida, the proclaimed Horse Capital of the World, and established another intensive care unit at Equine Medical Center of Ocala. This center served the local Thoroughbred breeding and training farms, winter horse show circuits, Quarter Horse farms and a large population of gaited Spanish horses. Dr. Franklin returned to Texas in 2008 to start another intensive care program at Weatherford Equine Medical Center in the Cutting Horse Capital.

Dr. Franklin is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and has published in peer-reviewed medical journals, written multiple scientific book chapters and has presented at veterinary meetings locally, nationally and internationally. As a respected practitioner, researcher, lecturer and leader Dr. Franklin formed the Texas Equine Veterinary Association in 2008 and served as it’s president in 2012. In 2014 he was elected as a director of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, the largest equine veterinary organization in the world. After serving three years on the board between 2015-2017 and then chairing the newly formed Wellness Committee, Dr. Franklin was selected as the Vice President of the organization in 2021, and will assume the role as President of the AAEP in 2023. Dr. Franklin is also co-founder of the animal nutritional supplement company FullBucket.

Rob is married to Laurie Jenschke Franklin and has two daughters, Bree and Colbie. Bree attends Fredericksburg High School and Colbie attends St. Mary’s Catholic School. The family attends church at Hill Country Church and enjoy all things Fredericksburg and Texas: fine wines, tennis, saltwater bay fishing, wakesurfing and travel. Rob has been leading veterinary volunteer trips to Central America for the past 9 years with over 16 trips completed to Mexico, Guatemala, Panama and Nicaragua serving indigenous people, their working horses/donkeys/mules and helping to train veterinary colleagues of the country. (Source)

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