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MEET OUR TEAM

Registered Veterinary Technicians & Veterinary Assistants

Paul McClellan

Jennifer McKinney

Registered Veterinary Technician, Director of Operations
Jennifer McKinney received her B.S. in Agriculture Sciences and Management, Animal Science emphasis, from U.C. Davis.  She started working as a veterinary technician in 1988 and got her CA RVT license in 1991.  She worked at Helen Woodward Animal Hospital in the equine department for 13 years before joining San Dieguito Equine Group in 2001.
 
Jennifer’s interests include gardening and spending time with her family.
Paul McClellan

Jenna Powell

Registered Veterinary Technician

Jenna joined the San Dieguito Equine Group team in June of 2014 as an ambulatory and surgical technician. Jenna grew up in Marin County, California and has been riding since the age of three. She has competed in jumpers, eventing and dressage, and is a graduate of the United States Pony Club. Jenna attended UC Davis, graduating with a Bachelor’s of Science in Equine Studies, with a focus on Equine Nutrition.

While in college, Jenna worked at the UC Davis Veterinary Medicine Hospital Large Animal Surgery unit and at the on-campus Equestrian Center, and has worked in Equine Ambulatory Medicine since graduating from college in 2010. Jenna returned to school at Santa Rosa Junior College attending their Veterinary Technician program and received her RVT license in November 2014.

Nowadays, you can find Jenna working primarily at SDEG’s clinic, where she where she frequently runs Advanced Imaging modalities including MRI and Nuclear Scintigraphy, and truly enjoys providing excellent patient care. When not at work, she loves to spend time with her husband, John, their dog Herbie, and her horse Comic. Jenna and John love barbequing and hosting their friends and Jenna is always trying out a new recipe for some delicious baked good.

Paul McClellan

Andrea Shepley

Registered Veterinary Technician

Andrea obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations and Economics before deciding to follow her true passion to work with animals. She went on to receive an Associate’s degree in Veterinary Technology and became a Registered Veterinary Technician in 2002. Soon after this Andrea moved to southern California when the production company Cavalia, where she was employed as Head of Veterinary Services, had a run of performances in Del Mar. Andrea has extensive experience in sports horse medicine, advanced diagnostic imaging, patient ICU care, neonate care and hospital/clinic management. She is also certified in equine dental prophylaxis and equilibration through the Academy of Equine Dentistry. This demanding course was completed over a two-year period involving ten weeks of hands-on technical training, in-class theory plus many additional hours of shadowing other certified colleagues. Andrea has had dentistry related case studies and written articles published by the American Veterinary Medical Association and Modern Equine Vet. She enjoys sharing her knowledge in a teaching capacity and has spoken at the AVMA, International Association of Equine Dentistry and the AAEP/AAEVT Annual Conventions.

Paul McClellan

Sanandry Simpson

Registered Veterinary Technician

Sanandry began her career in small animal medicine, specializing in ophthalmology. She received her RVT license in 2018 and began working in small animal emergency and specialty medicine. Sanandry grew up in Orange County and began riding at the early age of six. She is excited to transition into the equine side of veterinary medicine. Sanandry assists our doctors with their ambulatory appointments and also at our clinic. She is currently training in MRI and Nuclear Scintigraphy.

In her free time, she enjoys leisure riding, hiking with her cattle dog, and riding her motorcycle with her husband.

Paul McClellan

Heidi Brown

Registered Veterinary Technician

Heidi grew up in Southern California and began riding at age 6. Through high school she enjoyed rodeo and working for both hunter/jumper and dressage trainers. For over 10 years Heidi ran her own training business and riding school. Medicine has always been Heidi’s true passion so in 2014 she combined her love of medicine and horses and entered the equine veterinary field. Heidi qualified for California’s alternative RVT route completing 300 classroom hours and 4416 documented clinical hours to be eligible to sit for the RVT boards. Heidi successfully passed her RVT boards in August of 2021 and is loving her work at SDEG! 

Paul McClellan

Zoe Zeller

Veterinary Assistant

San Dieguito Equine has been like a second family to Zoe since she was young. Growing up with the practice sparked Zoe’s interest in veterinary medicine early. She is excited to sit for her RVT boards, as she recently completed her degree in Veterinary Technologies Animal Health at Mesa college. Zoe has grown up with horses and has been competing in various disciplines from a young age.

Being exposed to three day eventing in the United States Pony Club, Zoe has competed through the preliminary/2* level with her horse Tristan, while currently bringing along young horses. When she is not working, Zoe can most always be found riding, working out, spending time outdoors, and baking

Paul McClellan

Kathryn Brenton

Veterinary Assistant

Bio Coming Soon.

Paul McClellan

Ivan Pioquinto

Veterinary Assistant

Bio coming soon.

Paul McClellan

Stella King

Veterinary Assistant

Stella began riding at 10 and knew she wanted a life with horses by the time she was 12. Born and raised in Seattle, she was fortunate to have supportive parents and a few older barn friends who were willing to get her out of the city to the barn until the exciting day she could drive herself – from there the horse time only increased. She received her Associate’s Degree in Accounting from Bellevue College in 2017 and moved to Oceanside in 2018.

Over the years Stella’s roles have included working student, exercise rider, and groom in both the hunter/jumper and dressage worlds as her goals evolved but her commitment to horses stayed the same. After meeting a former San Dieguito employee and hearing about her experience at the practice, she applied for a position and started as a weekend groom before advancing to full-time veterinary assistant, clinic staffer, and occasional administrative helper. She enjoys the variety and learning as much as she can.

Outside of horses, Stella loves books, music, film, and spending time with family and friends.

Paul McClellan

Vera Kouprina

Veterinary Assistant

Bio coming soon.