Great Lakes Equine is an exclusively equine veterinary clinic providing routine and emergency care for approximately 2,000 horses. An 11,000 square foot clinic and hospital with surgical suite provides an exceptional atmosphere for more advance procedures and overnight medical cases. We are a progressive practice offering dentistry, sport horse medicine, lameness and performance evaluations, high-quality internal medicine, reproductive services, wellness care, and alternative medicine.
At Great Lakes Equine, our staff is dedicated to providing excellent customer service and compassionate equine care. They love what they do. They step in when and where they are needed. We are proud of who they are and the excellence they stand for.
Big Guy “BG” Blohowiak joined the Great Lakes team in August, 2018 as the resident “CHO”, or Chief Happiness Officer. Originally from Greenville, WI, he graduated from the prestigious Ebert Farm Academy before joining our team. While there he perfected his skills in mediocre hunting, attacking fellow felines, and using humans as a pillow. He now resides at the Hortonville hospital full-time and specializes in greeting clients and doing “Feline Friday” photoshoots full time. When not working he enjoys eating, resting, then sunning himself.
Rob Blohowiak DVM, CVSMT is the owner of Great Lakes Equine. His special interests include veterinary chiropractic and acupuncture, performance enhancement, prepurchase examinations and wellness care. Dr. Rob raises and trains barrel racing horses and competes nationally. He and his wife, Mary, have three sons – Noah 20, Jonah 17 and Fin 13. The whole family enjoys an annual summer camping trip, swimming in their pool and can often be heard belting out tunes from the latest Broadway musical or stopping all activity for a family dance break. Dr. Rob looks forward providing the best in compassionate equine care for Northeastern Wisconsin.
Dr. Diederich joined Great Lakes Equine in January of 2012. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. Following graduation, she was the first American to be accepted into the equine internship program at the École Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort (ENVA) in Paris France. While in France Dr. Diederich became proficient at musculoskeletal ultrasonography, learning from the most distinguished specialist in the world, Pr Jean-Marie Denoix. With her experience, Dr. Kate has advanced GLE’s lameness and diagnostic imaging. Dr. Kate and her husband, Ross, have 2 children, 1 rabbit, 1 cat, and depending on the day, 1 fish. In her spare time, she and Ross enjoy gardening, doing projects around and home, and spending time at the family cottage.
Dr. Adam Leininger is a 2007 graduate of The Ohio State College of Veterinary medicine. Following graduation, Dr. Adam completed a one year surgical internship at the Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in Lexington, KY before returning to Ohio to work in a predominately race track and sport horse practice. Throughout his career, Dr. Adam has gained valuable experience in lameness evaluation, performance enhancement of the Equine athlete, limb evaluation in foals, as well as equine podiatry. Dr. Adam joined Great Lakes Equine in 2012 and continues to enjoy working with the talented doctors and staff. When not working, he enjoys spending time with his wife Erin and two wonderful boys, Reed and Avry, as well as his two dogs and three horses.
Dr. Liz Odyniec is a graduate of the University Of Illinois College Of Veterinary Medicine. Following graduation she completed an internship at B.W. Furlong and Associates in New Jersey, where she worked alongside several of the country’s most prolific sports medicine practitioners. Dr. Liz then honed her skills further by traveling between New Jersey and Wellington, FL to complete a Sports Medicine Fellowship under Dr. Brendan Furlong. While there she obtained her FEI Permitted Treating Vet certification. Her professional interests include lameness and poor performance issues, diagnostic imaging, and injury rehabilitation, as well as ophthalmology and wound care. In her free time Dr. Liz likes to stay active by riding her warmblood, Stanley, or hiking with her husky mix, Odie. A native of the Chicago suburbs, she is also an avid Chicago sports fan – especially the Blackhawks!
Heather Thorn is our Practice Manager; she has been with Great Lakes Equine for 11 years. Heather graduated from UW River Falls with Bachelor of Science degrees in Animal Science (equine emphasis) and Broad Area Agriculture, she also has her Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree in Psychology (business emphasis) from UW River Falls. When Heather is not at work, she enjoys working on projects around their property in Iola, travelling the countryside and trout fishing with her husband Rob. Heather and Rob have a house cat named Digger, a milk house cat named Printz, and a Norwegian Fjord named Solveig.
Beth joins the GLE team as Administrative Assistant in June of 2017. She is a graduate of Concordia University with a Management and Communications Degree. With a passion for customer service, Beth looks forward to meeting clients and working close with the GLE doctors and team. Beth has been involved with horses for over 42 years and is actively involved with a local dog rescue. When Beth is not at work or busy with the rescue, she enjoys tending to her furry children at home: a 31-year-old TB, a 31-year-old QH, 2 sassy minis, Millie (better known as Princess Buttercup) and Rue, 1 barn cat, 2 dogs, and 3 house cats.
Tonya joined GLEWC in September of 2018 with seven years of equine barn management skills, and a Associates Degree as a CMA. She is active with the Breast Cancer Awareness Association, as well as her local Animal Shelters, and local Veterans Chapter. When Tonya’s not with the team here at GLEWC, she enjoys riding her reining horse (Get a LiL Spookie)“Kramer,” and her two other horses “Sassy” & “Magic”, along with horsing around at her farmette with her husband Brandon, her chocolate lab “Grizzly”, Dachshund “ Remi”, and her floppy eared Basset hound “Copper.”
Samantha joined GLEWC in June 2019 as a Veterinary Technician Intern while completing her Associates Degree in Veterinary Technology with Madison College. Additionally, Samantha has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice with seven years of Law Enforcement experience. In October 2020, she came on full time as a CVT with us. She also works part-time as a small animal CVT and police officer. When not busy working, she enjoys hunting, camping and riding Harleys with her husband Zach. She has a Bloodhound named Georgia-Bell who is trained to track wounded deer and a Black Labrador Retriever named Prince who is her heart dog. Samantha also adores bunnies and currently has a Rex named Midnight. Samantha is enthusiastic about learning more from working with the horse community.
