PrintAs one of the busiest veterinarians in the country, Mike Tomlinson is rarely in one place for long. When he’s not officiating at one of the 25 or so Fédération Equestre Internationale events he attends each year, he’s likely on a conference call or shuttling his children to soccer games.
Tomlinson earned his veterinary degree from the University of California at Davis and has been practicing since 1984. He also earned his masters degree in business in 1999. His specialty disciplines include Arabians, show jumping, dressage and endurance. He’s currently on the U.S. Equestrian Federation Board of Directors and serves on the Executive Committee, FEI Affiliates Working Group, Drugs And Medications Committee, Veterinary Committee, Endurance High Performance Committee, Endurance Technical Committee, Safety Committee and Safety Review Panel. Within the affiliate organizations, such as the American Endurance Ride Conference, U.S. Hunter Jumper Association and U.S. Dressage Federation, Tomlinson is involved in the high performance and international divisions.
Tomlinson got his first horse when he was in seventh grade and was immediately hooked. He competed in the Arabian divisions as a junior and currently has “plenty of horses” but little time to ride. His wife Debbie competes in dressage at the Prix St. Georges level, and his two sons, Matthew, 12, and Scott, 10, concentrate on other sports. “They both like horses, but riding is mommy’s and daddy’s sport,” he said.
Name: C. Mike Tomlinson
Home Base: Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Age: 49
What was the name and breed of your first horse?
Snookie was a purebred 3-year-old Arabian. That was all I could afford. She wasn’t broke—we broke each other! I rode around on her sometimes 12 hours a day. We went to school together quite often. I was in FFA [Future Farmers of America], so she could come to school. It’s hard to believe in Southern California there was agriculture back then.
How many countries have you visited?
Boy, really it would be virtually every country in Western Europe. It’s probably easier to think of
the places I’ve not visited, such as Africa and, unfortunately, I haven’t made it to Australia or New Zealand. I haven’t been to Russia, but I’ve been throughout the Middle East, Japan, Korea and Malaysia. I haven’t been to Pakistan or India. I’ve been in every country down through Central and South America except Chile and Argentina.
If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?
Home.
What person, alive or dead, would you most like to meet, and why?
It would probably be Thomas Jefferson or Albert Einstein. I love to create and invent and think of new things, and I think those guys were pretty good at it.
