Meet Our Vets

Dr. Mark Aiken

Dr. Mark grew up in a farming family in Ireland and was drawn to veterinary medicine as a result of his exposure to the farming world as a child, and especially because of his fondness of horses. He pursued his desire to become a veterinarian by training at Cambridge University Veterinary School in England. It was in Cambridge that Mark met Tina, who was participating in an exchange program between her school, Hannover Veterinary School in Germany, and Cambridge.

He graduated from Cambridge in 1991 and to satisfy his wanderlust, began working in a mixed practice in New York while Tina returned to Germany to complete her training. He returned to Great Britain in 1993 and worked for 2 years in a long-established practice. Tina had by then graduated and was also working in Great Britain. However, having experienced the “New World”, Tina and Mark returned to the USA in 1995 and he resumed working in the same practice in New York, eventually becoming a partner there. Tina accepted a position in a practice in Westchester County.

As his career developed in a mixed practice setting, he devoted more and more time to pursuing exclusively equine medicine. His desire to attend only to horses led him (with his wife Tina) to open Kilshannagh Veterinary Clinic in the summer of 2005.

Since the opening of the practice, Mark has provided a complete range of equine veterinary services. He devotes a considerable amount of his time to working on lameness issues, an aspect of his work that he finds particularly interesting.

Since Kilshannagh Veterinary Clinic opened, it has been Mark’s philosophy to provide high quality equine veterinary services, embracing the latest technology, but at the same time, to remain small, accessible and responsive to his clients.
Dr Mark is a member of the American Association Of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), the leading organization of equine practitioners in the US, and of The International Society of Equine Locomotor Pathology (ISELP), an organization devoted to the improvement of lameness diagnosis and treatment techniques.

Outside of work, and, depending on the time available, Mark likes to travel, hunker down with a good book, potter around the property including his vegetable garden, ski, sail or ride his horse (as best he can!), or just kick back with his dogs and cat!!!

Dr. Tina Aiken

Dr. Tina grew up in Cologne, Germany. As a child she had various pets
and developed a passion for dogs and horseback riding. Her father was
an internal medicine doctor in Cologne and her mother worked as a physiotherapist.
Tina’s love of animals and her exposure to the medical world through
her parents, led her to Veterinary School in Hannover. During her time
there, she took the opportunities presented to her to participate in
exchange programs with other Veterinary Schools in Utrecht (Holland)
and Cambridge (England). In Cambridge she met her future husband, Dr.
Mark.

From the outset, Dr. Tina was intrigued by the role that good nutrition
and alternative therapies could play in the maintenance of good health
in both animals and people. After completing her veterinary education
at Hannover in 1992, she stayed on at Hannover to complete a dissertation
in veterinary microbiology and then, in 1993, joined Mark in the United
Kingdom in a large, well-established small animal and equine practice.

In 1995, Dr. Tina relocated to the USA, where Mark had previously spent
some time in veterinary practice. She joined a well-known holistic veterinary
practice in Westchester County, New York, about an hour away from where
Mark was located at the time.

After her arrival in the US, Dr. Tina trained with and achieved Certification by the International
Veterinary Acupuncture Society and underwent training in Veterinary Chiropractic
Therapy at Tufts University.

In 2005, Dr. Tina and her husband, Mark, opened Kilshannagh Veterinary
Clinic at their farm in Ancramdale, Columbia County, New York. Her rationale
in opening the practice was to provide a comprehensive combination of
traditional and alternative veterinary therapies for small animals and
horses, in an approachable and medically current manner.

When Tina is not at work, she likes to play in a number of different
ways; snowboarding, downhill
skiing, cross-country skiing, sailing, horseback riding and gardening
are all on her list of hobbies. Most of them she does with her dogs in
tow………!!!!!

Dr. Alison Kaufman

Dr Alison grew up in Westchester County, New York, where she was active
in the Hunter/Jumper world. She earned her veterinary degree from Cornell
University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1999. On graduation, she
completed a private practice internship in equine medicine in State College,
Pennsylvania and then worked as Resident Veterinarian on a large breeding
farm, also in Pennsylvania.

In 2002, Alison moved to Dutchess County, New York, working in private
equine practice both in New York, and subsequently Connecticut.

After the birth of her twin sons Max and Jared, she continued in practice
but on a part-time basis and incorporated some regulatory work for the
United States Equestrian Federation into her schedule.

In the summer of 2008, Dr. Alison joined Kilshannagh Veterinary Clinic
to help with the expansion of the equine side of the practice. She is
especially interested in preventative medicine, dentistry and internal
medicine. She enjoys general practice and derives much satisfaction from
helping clients to gain the most from their horses, be it for companionship
or performance.

Outside of her career, Alison is a devoted mother, and when she can,
likes to hike, ski, kayak, and relax with family and friends.