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 Primary
Instructor: Tomas Gimenez, Dr. Med Vet
Tomas grew up in Mexico and went to veterinary school for his MVZ (Médico
Veterinario Zootécnista) degree at the National University of
Mexico, but spent his summers in Boston and New York City with his
grandparents learning English and how much he loved America. After vet
school he worked for Syntech with his life-long mentor Dr. Wolfgang
Jochle, then got an opportunity to attend the Royal Veterinary College
in Sweden as a Fellow for a year. Immediately after, he spent 5 years
in Munich, Germany at the Veterinary School and obtained a second
veterinary degree (Dr. Med. Vet.) from the University of Munich.
He came to Clemson University to teach surgery, endocrinology
subjects and reproduction. His career path took an unusual track in
the early 1990's when he attended a conference on large animal rescue
in California and began to get interested in disaster and emergency
response, especially in teaching large animal rescue subjects.
Tomas enjoys riding his horses and working on his farm in Clemson,
SC. Together
with fellow primary TLAER instructor, Rebecca Gimenez he gives
training in Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue techniques across
the US, using privately owned animals for the hands-on demonstrations.
Jointly Rebecca and Tomas (recently divorced) have published numerous
critiques, techniques and journal articles on the subject of technical
large animal emergency rescue, and they are internationally
sought speakers and subject matter experts on these subjects.
 Primary
Instructor: Rebecca Gimenez, Ph.D. // Major in USAR
Rebecca grew up on a farm in Sanford, Florida, where she learned to
care for and ride horses; she credits her parents with cultivating her
interests in the outdoors as well as the biological and physical
sciences. Her natural horsemanship grew from those early experiences
trail riding and socializing with friends on horseback - she didn't
even own a saddle until she was 13 years old! Who needs one if you
swim your horse across lakes and ride bareback all the time?
Her
leadership training started with JROTC in the Marine Corps in high
school, and it continued with an ROTC scholarship to Wofford College
in Spartanburg, SC where she graduated with a BS in Biology and met
numerous mentors who pushed her to excel in research and teaching
aspects of the biological and chemical sciences. Upon graduation in
1989, she became commissioned in the US Army Reserve program as a
Signal Corps lieutenant and has tried to balance her military
interests with a civilian career ever since. In 1994 she pursued her
PhD in
Animal Physiology from Clemson University and graduated in 1997 with
several major research publications. Meanwhile, she increased
her focus into large animal behavior in emergency situations by
studying natural horsemanship with major clinicians including John
Lyons and the Parellis. In 2000, she became a primary instructor with
TLAER and has continued to grow the research and development of new
equipment and techniques internationally.
She has a
wide variety of experiences that she combines in her teaching -
she taught Biology, Immunology and Microbiology as an adjunct
professor at Newberry then Anderson College for several years, owned,
edited and published a regional horse magazine for a couple more
years, and has written numerous articles for lay publications about
horse behavior and appropriate TLAER responses as a freelance
journalist. She is a past member and Logistics Officer for Veterinary
Medical Assistance Team (VMAT -2), and currently serves as a Major in
the US Army Reserves. She returned in July 2007 from a one year combat
tour in Kuwait and Iraq where she served as a Communications Officer,
and currently serves as the S1/Adjutant for the 359th Signal
Brigade, Augusta, GA.
Rebecca's current
scientific research interests include a national survey of trailer
accident causality, a study of physiological responses to Technical
Rescue procedures and equipment, and an investigation into poor
nutrition in horse neglect cases. Her
first book on Technical Large Animal
Emergency Rescue was published by Wiley-Blackwell in 2008
with 6 chapter authors besides herself and fellow primary TLAER
instructor Tomas Gimenez as editors.
In
addition to trail riding her 6 horses using Natural Horsemanship
methods, she owns a dog, several cats, a llama, snakes, a couple of
pan-size ornamental fish. She is active in various Equine organizations
- especially in disaster preparedness, animal abuse/neglect and trail
riding / greenspace issues. Together with fellow primary TLAER
instructor, Tomas Gimenez she gives training in Technical Large Animal
Emergency Rescue techniques across the US, using privately owned
animals which Rebecca trains for the hands-on demonstrations to
perform without sedation. Jointly Rebecca and Tomas have published
numerous critiques, techniques and journal articles on the subject of
technical large animal emergency rescue, and she is an internationally
sought speaker and subject matter expert on these subjects.
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