Charlize Zuraek is the recipient of the California Thoroughbred Foundation’s 2024 Western University of Health Sciences scholarship. The Foundation awards scholarships to students at Western University as well as to students at the University of California, Davis. These extraordinary young people are training for a life of service to horses.
Ever since her mother adopted an off-the-track Thoroughbred, Charlize has been interested in horses and was soon headed for her career goal of becoming an equine veterinarian. She competed in reining and was on the NCAA Division 1 Women’s Equestrian Team during the time she was doing her undergraduate work at U.C. Da-vis. She subsequently entered veterinary school at Western, where she expects to complete her degree in 2025.
Charlize has served veterinary externships with Starwood Equine Veterinary Services, Pioneer Equine Hospital, and two locations of the Steinbeck Peninsula Equine Clinics. As part of the annual convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners held in San Diego, she participated in Del Mar Student Day to learn more about racetrack veterinary medicine. As president of Western’s student AAEP chapter, Charlize has planned several activities focused on racetrack veterinary medicine, including a dry lab, a podiatry lab, and a field trip to the Fasig-Tipton yearling sale at Fairplex. She described the latter as “a club bonding event and to generate interest in the racetrack and/or equine industries.”