Veterinary Services
Equine
Whether you are looking for new horse owner education, maternity and foal care, vaccinations, or dental care, Dr. Barabas offers quality care to keep your horses happy and healthy.
Small Ruminant
Goat and Sheep have been gaining popularity in North Central Florida as more people are interested in locally sourced food and fiber. Your passion is our passion, Dr. Barabas is happy to help customize a program for you.
Backyard Birds
Backyard chickens are becoming a common and enjoyable part of the family in North Central Florida. We can help you be successful with your new found passion and help with the care of your feathered friends.
Bovine
From beef and dairy to family farm cattle, Hoof & Horn can help evaluate and improve the health of your herd no matter the size.
Our team
Dr. Jill Barabas lives in Gainesville Florida with her husband, Josh, and two daughters, Matilda and Esther. They share their home with five horses, two goats, two pigs, three dogs, a bearded dragon, and two cats. She has been riding horses and chasing her dreams of becoming a veterinarian since the age of five. Jill truly enjoys working with clients to find the best options for them and their animals. She is a member of the American Association for Equine Practitioners, American Association of Small Ruminant Practitioners and the American Veterinary Medical Association. She has special interest in Lameness, Acupuncture, wound care, geriatric management and ophthalmology.
Becky Wilson- Office Manager
Becky Wilson has been with Hoof and Horn since April of 2002, and is a Central Florida native with a passion for farming and livestock. Becky participated in 4-H and competed in Equitation and Jumpers growing up before graduating from Rollins College. After serving in AmeriCorps for two years, she moved to North Carolina and discovered a passion for farming and dairy animals in particular. The opportunity to work in sustainable farming with Dairy Goats, Dairy Cattle, and eventually in small animal vet tech, allows her to bring a broad perspective to all our patients’ needs! Becky is pursuing her CVT and while running her small farm in Gainesville.
Brett Becker - Veterinary Technician
Brett joined Hoof and Horn in October of 2023. He grew up in Michigan with an extensive agricultural background and worked with cattle and horses on his family's farm. Brett owned and operated his own business and worked counseling farmers in operations management, agronomy, and pesticide management for over five years. In the summer of 2023 he moved to central Florida and has been utilizing his large animal experience at Hoof and Horn as a veterinary technician. He hopes to grow in this position and continue to provide excellent support to the team.
Tatum Godfrey- Vet Tech
Tatum has been a veterinary technician with Hoof and Horn since August of 2021. She made the switch from small animal to large, and hasn’t looked back since! Tatum grew up doing 4-H and FFA in both Virginia and Florida. She is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Florida studying Wildlife Ecology and Conservation with hopes of studying and conserving Earth’s species.
Testimonials
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Latest Posts
Take Note: Heaves (AKA Equine Asthma)
What is heaves? Heaves is the most common respiratory condition that affects horses. Heaves is characterized by inflammation, thickening, and narrowing of the airways resulting in labored breathing, coughing, and excess mucus in the airways. It is a chronic disease that usually first arises in horses around 9-12 years old. Diagnosis of heaves Diagnosis is[…]
Caprine Case Study:
Urinary Calculi and Blockage in Male Goats *Names and Images are changed for patient privacy* Late in the afternoon a new owner called concerned that her 3 year old male castrated Nigerian dwarfgoat, “Prince”, was standing in his pen with “hunched” posture, and showing lethargy, dribbling urine, and decreased appetite for approximately the past 24[…]
Stepping out the Stall:
The future to best serving multi-species owners, farms and producers- Written by (future) Dr. Wilmer Lopez We all know that veterinarians are different from human doctors. One of the ways that your animal’s veterinarian is different from your own doctor is that veterinarians are legally able to provide medical care to almost all animal species.[…]
A bite size sample of what it’s like riding in our truck
“A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF DR. BARABAS” Clucking about Avian Influenza While the original appointment was made for so she stopped to have an reshaping a goat’s horns since they were growing curved into the skin, Dr. Barabas couldn’t help but to notice a population of backyard chickens on the farm. Hoof and Horn’s[…]
Avian Influenza 2022 Update:
HPAI H5N1 and H5 How is this year’s bird flu different from other years and strains? This year, a new virulent strain of avian influenza has been discovered that has already killed 36 million poultry birds worldwide, either from the virus directly or from depopulating efforts to control the spread of the virus. Experts[…]
Acupuncture in the Performance Horse
Acupuncture and herbal therapies have been gaining popularity in the United States over the past 30 years, but popularity does not necessarily mean efficacy. How do you decide with all the therapies and products that are out there which ones are safe? How do you know which ones will work? Deciding which modalities will improve[…]
Preventing Wormy Woes (News in the fight against parasite resistance.)
The trees are blooming the grass is growing and it is a beautiful time on North Central Florida farms. Everything is perfect right? Unfortunately for many small ruminant producers this is a frightening time of year. The mild temperatures combined with wet weather can make this the time of year for parasite problems. Depending on[…]
Acupuncture for our Equine Friends
Acupuncture is one of those things that brings visions of voodoo and colorful aura drawings to people’s minds. It is a very ancient practice that has been lumped into the new age phenomenon which has been gaining in popularity for the past 10 years or so. So what is the deal with Acupuncture? Is it all pseudoscience?[…]
When to inject?
Your trusty steed has lost a little of the pep in his step, what do you do next? Most people talk to trainers, friends, barn mates and veterinarians. Generally at least one of them will say “maybe it’s time to inject the hocks.” Joint injections are starting to be considered maintenance for our athletic friends[…]
Resistance, Worms and Disease OH MY!
In the Past 5 Years I have seen awareness about parasite resistance to deworming increase, but, owners still seem unsure of what to do about it. Creating programs that rotate dewormers and require a high frequency of treatment feel reassuring. Unfortunately those practices are outdated, expensive and have caused the resistance issues we now face[…]