COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Dr. Tim Eastman has been named the recipient of the 2023 PRCA Veterinarian of the Year award.
"It was very flattering (to receive an honor like this)," said Eastman, the official Veterinarian of California Rodeo Salinas. "The rodeo is big deal in Salinas and a big part of the community. My committee, I have a half dozen people out there all day long for the four days of the rodeo and then we have the one day of bull riding. I have a great committee and I was really honored and very proud of our rodeo and to be recognized is very flattering."
Eastman has deep roots at the California Rodeo Salinas.
"I have been a director for 20 years at (California Rodeo Salinas) and I have not missed a minute of the rodeo in 25 years," Eastman said. "I'm from Salinas. I grew up going to (California Rodeo Salinas) and my brother (Brent) was the president of California Rodeo Salinas and my dad was in the 1980s and it was kind of my destiny when I got out of vet school."
Eastman's day job is the chief of surgery at Steinbeck Country Equine Clinic in Salinas. He has worked 25 years at the clinic and he and his wife, Alexandra, who also is a vet, are co-owners of the clinic.
"I grew up in the practice and then after vet school (at UC Davis), I did an internship in Colorado (in Littleton) and then I did a three year surgical residency at Texas A&M and I got done and I came back to Salinas and I thought I was just going to work in the practice and both the senior associates ended up retiring and I ended up owning the practice with my wife."
Eastman acknowledged he began following this career path as a boy.
"I was about 7 or 8 years old when I decided to become an equine vet," Eastman said. "The rodeo in our family is like a holiday. It's the same way for my four kids, they have never missed a day of the rodeo. I never really pictured myself coming back and owning the whole practice that quick or having the responsibility of the whole rodeo, but it kind of seemed like my destiny when I became a surgeon and moved back and got involved and the next thing I knew I was in charge of the whole thing.
"Out there (at the rodeo) we are just in the shadows, but we have a great crew and if something goes down and we have people who can respond to anything. I think you just have to have a good crew of people and equipment ready to go. Over the years, we have seen about everything out there and we take pride in what we do and over the last 25 to 30 years veterinarians have done all they can to make things safer."
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