A little extra care went a long way for Waterford.

Waterford, a Cleveland Bay horse, was the first homebred foal for Steffanie Burgevin, a longtime client and advocate for the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center.

Waterford developed myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle and often a fatal illness. The disease did not respond to standard of care treatments at the Marion duPont Equine Medical Center, a Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine teaching hospital in Leesburg, Virginia. 

Nat White, professor of surgery, asked Burgevin to allow him a few more days to try a medication compounded, based on his research, specifically for the foal. 

After three days Waterford began to improve, and he would grow up to be a wonderful horse — tremendously athletic with a great heart. 

“Waterford was not the first, but not the last horse, I would bring to EMC,” said Burgevin, a retired financial advisor and board secretary for the Land Trust of Virginia. “They have the expertise, the time, and the resources to run tests and diagnostics specific to your horse. They are vitally important to our equine community, which is why I have made EMC a beneficiary in my will."