About Us
Our Vision
To provide tertiary education for students to gain world class skills and knowledge and for current practising equine dentists seeking additional skills to advance their careers.
Our Mission Statement
New Zealand Equine Dentistry School fosters learning, commitment and on-going knowledge acquisition in the promotion of professionalism in the equine dentistry industry.
Our Facility
The NZ Equine Dentistry School has recently moved offices. We are currently looking for a suitable location and facility for the next class starting in September 2012 and updates will be posted as they are available.
At NZ Equine Dentistry School we aim to provide a visual, practical learning environment for students. We will maintain a high staff to student ratio while ensuring all work is carried out in a safe, practical and professional environment.
Our Staff
Warwick Behrns QEqDT/IAED/CA - Academic Manager
Warwick is a certified advanced member of The International Association of Equine Dentistry (IAED) www.iaedonline.com and has extensive worldwide experience, spanning more than 30 years in the equine dentistry industry.
Warwick comes from a long line of well respected Harness Racing Trainers, and his success in the horse world is a reflection of this. At the age of 23, Warwick left horses for a time to develop his own successful fast food chain, where he was responsible for training up to 100 staff. These skills have proved to be useful when moving into instruction in Equine Dentistry.
His passion of taking horses to 'the top' found him interested in all aspects of horses' wellbeing. He knew that if a horse could not gain all of the goodness out of their food, then this was a contributing factor to their performance, and so under the guidance of a well respected equine dentist Warwick began his journey at the age of 15.
Equine Dentistry has developed dramatically over the last 30 years, and Warwick's knowledge in the industry has grown with it. In 1990 he studied and worked in America going on to work in England and Australia before returning to New Zealand to build his now extremely busy equine dental business, and the NZ Equine Dentistry School.
Warwick who instructed for the American School of Equine Dentistry for 6 years, travels to the IAED conferences yearly and believes that you can never stop learning when it comes to this integral part of a horse. There are new tools and technology coming out all the time, and Warwick is always keen to see how they can help improve the industry.
Dianna Behrns - Office & Student Manager
Dianna has a background in office administration and has run this side of their succesful equine dentistry business for the past 14 years. Dianna is a skilled business professional with versatile administrative skills developed through experience as an office manager. This gives her an excellent understanding of business management, making her well equipped to assist students with this part of their training.
Dianna is the first contact for students and is the designated person responsible for all communication with students, prior to coming to NZEDS, while students are studying and after they have completed their studies.
Horses have always been a big part of Dianna's life, having show jumped and evented during her Pony Club years and into her twenties. These days her riding is only for pleasure and consists of taking out students riding or family days out with the horses to the beach.
Dianna's in depth knowledge of horses and horse management compliments Warwick's teaching of equine dentistry.
Dr Carol Borra DVM QEqDT / IAED - Instructor
Carol is from Andorra, Europe and is a member of the International Association of Equine Dentistry (IAED) and the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA). Carol is a licenced veterinarian in Andorra. Carol is not licenced to practice veterinary medicine in New Zealand.
At 17 years old Carol obtained her certificate as a vet nurse. Carol then studied veterinarian medicine at the Veterinarian faculty, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona in Spain. She specialised in equine medicine and has extensive experience in the field and in an equine hospital.
From Carol's 3rd year at veterinary school, she has been practicing in the field with a vet team, spending as much time at the university's vet equine hospital first of all as a vet student volunteering then as a veterinarian externship.
In September 2009 Carol studied equine dentistry at the NZ Equine Dentistry School. Together with her veterinary background, Carol proved to be a first class equine dental graduate and has gone on to quickly gain a reputation as a competent equine dentist in Spain and France.
During 2010 Carol regularly attended conferences around Europe about Equine Medicine and Equine Dentistry and is planning to attend IAED conferences and sit their certification programme in the near future. Carol is also studying to sit exams so that she is able to practise veterinary medicine worldwide.
During 2000 and 2001 Carol worked as a teacher for teenagers, between the age of 14 and 18, for 1 year in an after school academy. She was teaching maths, biology and biochemistry and this will be beneficial when teaching students in the future at NZEDS.
Carol has recently joined the NZ Equine Dentistry School as a valued and well respected member of the team. Her expertise in veterinary medicine and education is going to be of great assistance to the development of the curriculum.
We look forward to Carol returning to New Zealand in November 2011 and wish her well for the European summer.
Dr Stefan Nemanja Hadzi Longinovic DDS / QEqDT - Instructor
Dr Stefan Nemanja Hadži-Longinović DDS, QEqDT was born in the European city of Belgrade, Serbia.
Stefan is a practicing human and equine dentist and has completed education in Europe, South Africa, USA and New Zealand. After high school in South Africa and graduation in the United States, Stefan enrolled in the School of Dentistry at the University of Belgrade. While a dental student, he became a member of the European Dental Student’s Association (EDSA). In 2004 Stefan was elected as EDSA vice-president at the 32nd EDSA meeting which was held in Santiago De Compostela, Spain.
Stefan has participated in the Scientific International Dental Exchange Programs at the school of Dental Medicine, Hebrew University, Israel and at the Queen Mary Dental School, University of London, UK. It was here that Stefan was awarded with the Essex David Dibiase Elective Award, by the British Dental Association.
Stefan graduated from the School of Dentistry in 2006. In 2007 Stefan finished one year compulsory dental training and passed the Professional Exam before the Serbian Dental Examination Board, licensing him to practice dentistry in Serbia.
In 2008, Stefan came to New Zealand to study at the New Zealand Equine Dentistry School, where he enhanced his dental knowledge even further. While a student, he has been proactive and innovative, and also has shown competence and full dedication with clear professional goals at hand.
Since 2010, in cooperation with the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, Stefan gave many lectures concerning equine dentistry, general and advance approaches. Included in the many talks he has now given were ‘The Equine Dentistry’ at The International Equestrian Conference ‘Horseville’ in Novi Sad, Serbia.
The following year, Stefan gave a lecture on ‘The Equine Dentistry – Materials and Methods’ in Kelebija, Serbia.
In March 2012, Stefan joined charity efforts of the Kiwi Care Team in Cairo, Egypt, in order to help and improve oral care and health of local horses, donkeys and camels.
We look forward to having Stefan on the team at NZ Equine Dentistry School this year and know that he will add value to the curriculum and be an integral part of our student’s education.
