Hagyard Equine Medical Institute announced the hiring of two new members of their world class equine veterinary team. In September 2026, Dr. Chris Downs, DVM, will join the team as a surgeon in the Davidson Surgery Center, and Dr. Myriah Albrecht will be joining the McGee Internal Medicine Center as an Internist.
"We're very lucky at Hagyard to have a number of experienced, senior members of our veterinary care team across a variety of general and specialty care - special people who have literally given decades of their lives caring for horses," said Dr. Luke Fallon, DVM and Medical Director at Hagyard. But in order to sustain our world-class standard of care for decades to come, we must keep adding new talent as well. That's why we're so pleased to announce these new members of our team."
Dr. Downs was hired full time after serving as locum emergency surgeon for the 2026 breeding season. He earned his DVM at the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia in 2003. In 2004, he completed an Equine Surgical Internship at Hagyard-Davidson-McGee in Lexington, Ky. He joined Chicago Equine Medical Center in 2005 as an associate, where he gained experience in Sports Medicine while continuing to pursue his primary interests in Equine Surgery. Dr. Downs then completed a three-year Equine Surgery Residency at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University in July of 2009, becoming board certified with the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS) in 2010. Beyond academics and training, Dr. Downs has spoken at conferences on topics such as current wound therapies, suspensory ligament lameness, and the repair of rib fractures in neonatal foals and published scientific articles on the topics of surgical trans-fixation casting in the horse and surgical repair of rib fractures in neonatal foals. He has a broad interest in all types of surgical conditions in the horse including emergency and elective surgery.
"Hagyard's reputation as a leader in the field of equine health and an opportunity to work with my mentors drove me to accept the position as a locum in surgery this past spring," offered Downs. "Having gone through that experience during the breeding season just solidified my desire to be here full time."
Dr. Albrecht graduated from Transylvania University in 2018 with a degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology. After completing her bachelor's degree, she attended The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, focusing on equine studies, and graduated with her DVM in 2022. During her time at Ohio State, she developed a strong interest in equine internal medicine and received the Large Animal Internal Medicine Certificate of Clinical Excellence Award from the ACVIM.
Dr. Albrecht initially joined the Hagyard medicine team as an Internal Medicine Fellow in 2022. After completing the fellowship program, she participated in a joint 3-year Internal Medicine Residency through Hagyard's collaboration with The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine. During her residency, Dr. Albrecht split her time evenly between the McGee Medicine Center and the Ohio State Veterinary Medical Center. In July 2026, Dr. Albrecht completed her program and all requisites to become board certified in veterinary Internal Medicine.
"My residency experience provided me with an exceptional foundation for my career," said Dr. Albrecht. "I was fortunate to work with a diverse patient population, which allowed me to develop a broad range of clinical skills while continually expanding my knowledge. I also had the opportunity to learn from an incredible group of mentors, not only from within my own department but also from others in various disciplines and specialties within the practice. I am grateful for the training and mentorship I received during my residency, and I am excited to continue building on that foundation as an internal medicine specialist with the team."
Hagyard is celebrating their 150th Anniversary in 2026, and hirings like these have been a fundamental value of the organization for nearly all their fifteen decades in business.
"Mentoring and training young veterinarians is a responsibility we have always taken seriously," added Dr. Fallon. Not only do we owe it to our clients and the incredible equine athletes in their stables. We owe it to the industry so it can be as healthy physically as it is financially."
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