A Dedicated Donor’s Legacy and Love for Horses Endures
The equine community lost a valuable member, and the Center for Equine Health said goodbye to a beloved friend and donor with the recent passing of Kathy Cromwell. Kathy was dedicated to horses throughout her life and established the Equine Enduring Legacy Fund at UC Davis to ensure that horses would benefit from advanced veterinary care well into the future.
Kathy was an avid horsewoman and trail horse show competitor. She was always in the top for year-end awards and was often show champion in the trail divisions. She truly loved the competitions and had a long career showing in open shows, as well as Quarter Horse and Paint Horse breed shows. Among her show horses were Opie’s Misty, Thirsty Hobby, A Sudden Option (Lilly), and R Fancy Colored Zippo (Sunny).
Kathy’s desire to give something of lasting value to equine healthcare and to the owners that struggle to do their best to support their horses when facing difficult medical challenges gave her the vision to create the Equine Enduring Legacy Fund. She designed and established the fund for cases at the UC Davis veterinary hospital, and her endowment ensures that these funds will be available for horses in need for years to come. Approval for use of the funds for specific cases also requires demonstration of valuable teaching opportunities for veterinary students or residents. Our young professionals take these learning experiences with them into their careers throughout the state, country, and even the world, greatly amplifying Kathy’s goal of access to advanced veterinary care for all horses.
Through the years, the Equine Enduring Legacy Fund has benefitted cases from foals to older horses, ponies to Percherons and provided unique training opportunities for countless veterinary students and residents.
“Kathy Cromwell's forward thinking has provided the equine clinicians and clinician scientists at the UC Davis veterinary hospital with the opportunity to push the envelope and advance veterinary medicine,” said Dr. Gary Magdesian, Chief of the Equine Internal Medicine Service. “The Legacy Fund has allowed us to provide owners with hope of a last chance to save their horses with serious illnesses. Kathy's vision has allowed many of these severe cases to be successfully treated with novel therapies, and to ultimately thrive. The clinicians, residents, and students have learned a great deal in the process. We are eternally grateful for Kathy's generosity and ingenuity.”
Kathy’s horses Lilly and Sunny are living out their lives as part of the CEH Teaching Herd. They are kind teachers in our program and wonderful reminders of the enduring impact of one special equestrian’s love of horses.