Holly Gardyne with a pair of four-day-old goats. She had been attending to their mother who was sick with mastitis. Photo: supplied
A young vet has no regrets about moving to a rural practice at the bottom of the South Island where she's busy stitching up working dogs.
Southland's Holly Gardyne is taking on a mix of farm work after graduating from university in Palmerston North three years ago.
Each year just under half of Massey University's vet graduates begin their careers in rural locations.
The majority take on jobs in cities working with domestic cats and dogs.
Young rural vet Holly Gardyne with her dog Herbie. Photo: supplied
Gardyne is one of those who took the plunge, preferring farm work over pets.
The 25-year-old's clinic at Northern Southland Vets is located in the small town of Riversdale around half an hour's drive from Gore.
She said the lifestyle of living on a farm and working in a rural practice is fantastic.
"Last night I was stitching up a working dog that had been naughtily chasing a calf that it shouldn't have been," she said.
"There are quite a lot of orthopaedic injuries, tending to broken bones things that need surgeries to fix."
She enjoyed diagnosing breaks and setting up working dogs up for surgery.
Holly Gardyne from Northern Southland Vets has performed a C-section on a cow. Photo: supplied
Gardyne had already performed a C-section on a cow and had the photo to prove it.
That's given her a taste for surgery and she's keen to widen her skillset and take on more.
"I don't do all the complicated surgeries, I leave that to the experienced vets. But I scrub in on some of the surgeries because it's something I'm keen to learn."
She enjoys the variety of work which allows her to get out on dairy farms, large sheep stations and even see some deer.
"It's a very mixed large animal role probably around 60 percent large animals, and most of the small animals we see are working dogs which are pretty cool to work with, she said.
"We're busy, we've just been drying off a whole lot of dairy cows which has been hectic."
The career choice is living up to expectations so far with incredible moments thrown in with some stunning scenery.
"I've been working here since the start of 2023. I grew up in Christchurch and studied in Palmerston North for five years."
"We go all the way up to Kingston which is near Queenstown. And across to Te Anau. There are some pretty big stations and the drive in is very beautiful."
And is there a downside?
"When it's snowing it can be grim, but I guess there's a drawback with every job," she said with a laugh.
