I had the great fortune of spending an hour chatting with Eleanor Green, DVM, DACVIM, DABVP, a highly distinguished equine veterinarian, and iconic horsewoman. She has paved many roads in the horse industry through her career as a practicing veterinarian, leader in some of the top veterinary colleges across the country, and lifelong advocate for horsemanship and the Western lifestyle.
What struck me most about our conversation was who she shows up as every day. I left our meeting with the feeling that I had just received a sermon with personalized tips for moving through the world with grace, integrity, and excellence. I wish I could infuse that into your spirit with her words today - too bad I can't plug a USB drive into your soul - but I hope this summary of our chat fills your cup.
Q: For those who may not know you yet, could you tell us a bit about yourself?
A: Sure, my name is Eleanor Green, and I am an equine veterinarian. When I went to veterinary school, all I wanted to do was be a really good equine veterinarian. That’s it. That was the limit of my expectations. I went into private practice, but ended up in an academic setting. When I went into academia, a whole new world unfolded. I started out at Mississippi State University as a founding faculty member and I thought I'd stay there forever. Then, my husband at the time, got a job offer in Missouri. So I ended up working at Middlebush Equine Center at the University of Missouri, which gave me the opportunity to start my equine research career.
I decided to stay there forever because everything was wonderful. But then, I got an offer from the University of Tennessee to become the hospital director and department head. I felt that I needed to say yes because that allowed me to have a greater impact. Now, I was having fun in Tennessee, and said I would never leave, and then the University of Florida called. Florida is my home state, and I am an alumnus of the UF undergraduate program, so I went back to my home state as department chair and hospital chief of staff. Once again, I said I was never moving.
Then Texas A&M University called. I went there to become the Dean, and it has been remarkable how every step of my career has allowed me to have a bigger impact. I stepped down as Dean in 2020 because my husband, Dr. Jim Heird, and I had the opportunity to buy a wonderful property outside of Weatherford, Texas, the epicenter of the western performance horse world. I decided to consult and work from home with my office in the barn. One of my consulting jobs was working with Mark Cushing of Animal Policy Group to help some of the newly forming veterinary schools. That is how I came across Lyon College, a private liberal arts college in Arkansas, with aspirations to create a veterinary school. I could not pass up the opportunity to create an innovative educational program from the ground up and to reimagine veterinary education, so I accepted the offer to become the Founding Dean at Lyon College School of Veterinary Medicine. I am doing that currently, working remotely from Texas for now.
When did you know that you wanted to be an equine veterinarian?
I have always had a passion for horses. I don’t know where it came from, I was just born like that. I begged and begged to have a horse, and take riding lessons. I started lessons very early, and got my first horse at age 9. I have never been without a horse since then, and I will never be without one.
My dad, my granddad, my uncles, and my brother, were all human physicians. I had such a passion for horses and I couldn't think of a better way to meld this passion with the medical profession. Becoming a veterinarian was a natural choice for me.
It has been a good path for me. I've really loved being a veterinarian. This profession is very fulfilling. How wonderful is it that I get to work with both animals AND the people who care about them?
My family supported my dreams. My father always wanted me to follow my dreams. When I was raising my kids, none of them wanted to be veterinarians. I told them: I want you to follow your dreams, not mine. I want you to go down the path you want to go down. I hope you find what I found, and that is that there has not been a single day that I have not loved going to work. That doesn't mean there aren't struggles or barriers or hills to climb, but I've loved every bit of it, and I just hope that they have found that. I think they have, they all went their different ways, but that's what I really wanted for them, and I think my parents wanted that for me.
You were 1 of only 3 women in your graduating veterinary class from Auburn University. What was it like to be a female in a largely male field?
I never really thought about it much, and all of my classmates and faculty were really great, and many became very good friends. I didn’t focus on it and they didn’t seem to focus on it either. We were just classmates together.
Now, certainly I say that, but of course, the times were very different then. When I first applied, I did not get in, and I learned later, after I did get accepted, that they did not even consider the application of a woman applying for the first time. She had to come back and apply a second time for them to know that she was serious about veterinary school.
Some of the questions in the vet school interview were unusual, like, “Is there something wrong with you? Don't you want a family? How can you handle a 2,000 pound bull?”
Things we all know today don't matter, but back then, there were questions. People didn't understand how a woman could do it, have a career and a family, but I could not accept avoiding the pursuit of my career aspirations just because of the discouragement of others. I decided, with resolve, to be successful. I did not wear it on my sleeve or get angry about it, I was determined to do a really good job and go from there.
What advice would you give to women today based on your career and experiences?
The advice that I certainly gave to my children and continue to give to my grandchildren and to prospective students and to anybody else I come across is: This is your life, it is your world, go for what you want, and do not let anybody tell you no.
You may not get a yes the first time, you may have to go back and try again, but if there's something you really want, you go for it with enthusiasm and vigor.
One time, I asked the famous horse trainer Wayne Lukas, “What made you so successful?” His answer was, “I've never seen a successful person that didn't have energy, enthusiasm, and intensity.”
Doesn't that just say it all? If you're going to be really successful, you have to have the energy to do it. You certainly have to have the enthusiasm to take it on, and then you need to be intense enough that you can truly convert it to something that is successful.
Do not let anybody get you off your path. And do not be the person who throws cold water on someone else’s dreams. Encourage others.
Did you have any mentors - female or male - in your career that really encouraged you in that way?
Yes, when I was at Mississippi State University, a veterinarian from Liverpool, England, Dr. Paul Neal, came as a visiting professor. He was a very prominent equine surgeon with all the credentials, and I got to work with him. He was the first person to ever tell me that I was good. Isn't that something? I was already a veterinarian, and he's the first one that told me I was good. That was so uplifting for me; every person on this planet has self-doubts.
After that, I made sure that if I saw something or someone good, or someone with potential, I told them that they were good. I paid it forward by encouraging them.
I think it's very important that we inspire each other, and whether it's a young person or a colleague or someone we report to, we have to boost others. Part of making the right thing easy is telling someone they are great at something and to keep going.
The other thing is, as we progress, and certainly as I went from a practitioner on up through the academic ranks to Dean, every place you go to is a new place. Every single time that you accept a new job or get promoted or accept more responsibilities, you put yourself in a new position, out of your comfort zone.
I always tell young people to say yes, and get out of your comfort zone. Don’t avoid opportunities because you think you may not be able to handle them. That's something that women do in particular. There's some evidence that women feel they have to be 100% ready before they take on something new, and men don't feel like they have to be that ready to take on something new. Throw yourself in the fire; you'll be fine. What's the worst that could happen? You find one approach that did not work and you experience another lesson to enrich your life. It has been said to fail often and fail fast for greater success.
What books or personal development resources have inspired you?
One book, called The Corporate Mystic, is a study of CEOs, particularly in comparing good CEOs to great CEOS. What is the difference between great and good?
There are two points in the books that I’ve carried with me.
One is that the common thread for greatness is integrity. Here's the thing, if you lack integrity, nothing else matters. There is no way that you have enough talent to overcome a lack of integrity. I don't care how hard you work. I don't care what you do. If you lack integrity, no amount of hard work, effort, and talent can overcome lack of integrity.
The second point is that when they studied how some of these great leaders evolved, they found that great leaders often challenged authority at an early age. That doesn't mean that they robbed a bank or ran away from home. It means that they asked questions and did not just accept everything that people told them. They were curious.
What does being an authentic horsewoman mean to you?
It means everything. It's who I am. It's who I have always wanted to be.
Being inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame and Museum is one of the most touching and uplifting recognitions I've ever received. Why is that? The purpose. The designation of being a woman leader in shaping the Western lifestyle is very humbling. It is incredibly humbling to be among women like Sandra Day O'Connor, Reba McEntire, Annie Oakley, and all of these women with remarkable stories of resilience, grit, and capability, who plowed new ground, helped others, and left a lasting impact.
Ms. Anne Marion, the past owner of the Four Sixes Ranch, was an inductee in the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame as well. It’s exciting that now this legacy is progressing, but in a new way. The new owners are taking the Four Sixes to the world to help people understand what the Western lifestyle means. This is one of the things I like most about the Yellowstone television series. It shines a light on the Western way of life, on agriculture, and it shows some of the true challenges that agriculture has today in feeding the world, property rights, water rights, taxes, development versus maintaining open ground, and diversity. What a clever and effective way to inform the public of the importance of agriculture in our country.
Horses are good for people. They teach you much about life - responsibility and how to care for another animal. They teach you how to communicate effectively with animals and people. They teach you how to win, and they teach you how to lose.
The life lessons on the back of a horse are just unlimited and I think they all apply in the boardroom too.
I was talking to my husband, who loves horses as much as I do. He is a superb horseman. I asked him one day, “What's your philosophy in working with horses?”
And he said, “Well, I make what I want them to do easy and what I don't want them to do hard.”
Now doesn't that apply to the workforce as well? How can we pave a way to optimize the good? How can we encourage people to want to follow the right path and avoid the wrong one? Horses and people look for a leader, so how can we be the leaders and set the culture within our organizations, a culture of integrity, excellence, compassion, and caring. This is something I think about daily.
What opportunities do you think women have to innovate in the coming decades?
It has been proven that when leadership reaches at least 20% women, a company does better in many ways, including financially. Women are leaders, and diversity of ideas really breeds success. Diversity of who you are, diversity of ideas, diversity of capabilities, that's where the great innovations occur.
There's a book called The Medici Effect, and it studies what philosophers in Italy proposed: That the great intersection of medicine and art is where the best innovations occur. Bringing together new people with novel ideas spawns innovation and greater success.
We need to be aware that nothing can ever just be our own idea or opinion. If we are going to do something grand, we need to bring others into the fold.
As one isolated example, when I was Dean at Texas A&M, we set aside 5 seats for veterinary school applications for engineering students. That’s a different way of thinking, but, if all of our veterinarians come out of exactly the same background, we are not going to be innovative. We’re just going to replicate what we've always done, but when you throw a new mix in and stir it up a little bit, magic happens.
Today, what would a dream day in your life be like?
First of all, I'd have to ride my horse. That's a dream day. I never want to quit doing that. And of course, family is always a dream day. I have a wonderful husband, 5 grown children between us, and 11 grandchildren. As far as work goes, I just want to keep doing something that excites me, that keeps me learning, and that contributes something of value.
I get the biggest high out of helping someone do something. I just got a card from a young man who could not get into veterinary school. He was outstanding, so I helped mentor him through that process, and he got in, and just sent me the nicest card. That's a perfect day for me when you've helped someone and they're reaching their dreams.
Another perfect day is one like I just had where we went to Arkansas and had a reveal of the facilities that we're going to build. This new Lyon College Veterinary School is expected to leave a lasting impact on many.
I still get a real high during every graduation when I see students walk across the stage. They are one of the major reasons we work so hard in academia, so every year we get to witness success as we launch the new generation of veterinarians into the profession.
There are a lot of perfect days.
Do you have any daily routines that you feel contribute to your fulfillment?
One routine that I started a long time ago (and still do even on my very short commute today to my barn!), is that every single morning in the car, I take inventory of my life.
I don't worry about yesterday or tomorrow. I just take inventory of my life, and that allows me to realize that the good far outweighs the challenge. When I take the opportunity every single day to frame my life like this, I go into the workplace with the right mindset to make a difference, rather than going in with my shoulders slumped about what I am going to try to fix that day or what happened yesterday. It is easy to get into the ditch and if you are a leader, your job is to inspire and motivate others.
I suggest this for everybody. It’s not pretending there are no problems, but if you enter the day in this way, you’ll get to attack those problems from a positive frame of mind.
What are you looking forward to next?
Obviously, riding and horsemanship in general are my passion. I just talked to a friend the other day who has a pleasure driving horse that I could lease. I have a ranch riding horse who is a 3-time world champion, and I can take him to a show any day and he will be good. But what if I take him in the ranch riding division and then I also do the pleasure driving. Wouldn't that be kind of fun? I would love to do that and that would fulfill me very much.
Work wise, I would really like to reimagine veterinary education, and I hope to do that at the Lyon College School of Veterinary Medicine. What can we do to speak to adult learners? What can we do to make learning fun? To engage veterinary students in their learning to the ultimate degree? Where can we infuse the right technologies at the right time to enhance their learning, retention, curiosity, and hunger for lifelong learning?
The goal is not to just create career-ready veterinarians, I want to create future-ready veterinarians who are ready to tackle this ever-changing world. If they are only career-ready, they are already out of date on day 2 after graduation.
We have to instill a mindset of constant adaptation, constant evolution, constant driving of good things in an exponentially changing world, so that this profession can, not only survive, but thrive well in the future.
Final Words {from the author}
When I think about the Western way of life, I think about the “both and.” Strong and soft. Tough and flexible. Tradition and innovation. What I love so much about the West, and what I believe many Americans love about it (hence the popularity of multiple Taylor Sheridan television series), is that it speaks to our soul in a way that we do not consciously understand.
It’s not something that someone can fake by putting on a cowboy hat and a pair of boots, or buying a big truck. If you try to put on an act for a horse - good luck.
I don’t believe that the West was won, I believe that the West was remembered. It’s that DNA-level connection, that feeling in our bones. The knowingness. Ah yes, I can recognize it in someone or some place, but don’t ask me to explain it with words.
I felt this knowing while talking to Dr. Green. I feel this knowing every time I visit the Four Sixes Ranch. I feel this knowing every time I interact with a horse. To me, the West must be a woman. And I am honored every time I encounter her. Ah, there she is.
