Dr. Katheryn Johnson has a dream.
And thanks to the Cumulus Fund in Equine Medicine in the College of Veterinary Medicine, that dream is one step closer to becoming a reality.
The award, established by Susan Aschenbrenner and her husband John, helps support the residency program in equine medicine at Iowa State. In the past the fund has assisted residents with expenses associated with research activities, publication expenses and conference expenses and travel.
Johnson was assisted when the Cumulus Fund paid for her board exam fees from the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM).
“I am very thankful for the Cumulus Fund,” Johnson said. “It provided the financial support to cover the cost for my ACVIM board exam and it has brought me one step closer to my dream of becoming a specialist in equine internal medicine.”
The Aschenbrenners created the Cumulus Fund after bringing their horse, CH Callaway’s Cumulus or “Jack” to the Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center at Iowa State for testing several years ago. When the tests came back, it showed Jack had pneumonia with different strains in each lung.
This is a bad prognosis for any horse and especially for a national competitive trotter. The veterinarians at Iowa State began a treatment that lasted five months, saw him lose several hundred pounds and required surgeries to remove a rib on each side so his lungs could be opened and drained of infection.
Jack rallied after his surgery and recovered to become a five-time world champion in the Country Pleasure Driving division. He had such an amazing career after his care at the Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center that Horse World's readers selected Jack as the People's Choice Award not only for the divisional winner in Country Pleasure Driving but as the Reserve Champion as Favorite Horse of the Decade.
As an appreciation to the care Jack received at Iowa State, the Aschenbrenners established the Cumulus Fund.
"It is our hope that more horses who are ill as Jack was will be saved with the extra knowledge these young doctors will gain," Susan Ashenbrenner said when establishing the Cumulus Fund.
October 2020
