Seven Hills Equine was founded by Bernardo Melo Franco, an equine veterinary surgeon with over a decade of clinical experience and a lifelong passion for horses. Bernardo’s career has been shaped by high-level clinical experience, international training, and a continuous pursuit of advanced certifications in equine sports medicine.

Born and raised in Lisbon – the city of seven hills – Bernardo began riding at six years old. Those early years riding alongside peers of his own age and experience – as well as riders of all levels, from enthusiastic amateurs to Olympic athletes – at Portugal’s leading equestrian centre, affectionately called The Jockey [Club], shaped Bernardo’s enduring respect for the partnership between horse, rider, and vet. The Club quickly became a second home – and often a first – during his teenage years, a place where he built lifelong friendships and a lasting appreciation for the values of empathy, dedication, and teamwork that underpin good horsemanship.

After graduating in 2015, Bernardo completed two prestigious 12-month internships at leading equine referral centres: EquiTom in Belgium – renowned for cutting-edge diagnostic and surgical care – and the Animal Health Trust’s Centre for Equine Studies in Newmarket, where he trained under Dr. Sue Dyson, widely regarded as the world’s foremost expert in equine lameness, poor performance, and diagnostic imaging. This formative experience reinforced Bernardo’s focus on locomotor pathology and performance-related issues in sports horses.

Since then, Bernardo has worked across the Midlands and Northwest of England as an ambulatory equine vet, providing both first- and second-opinion consultations in lameness investigation, poor performance, and emergency care.

Bernardo holds the RCVS Certificate in Equine Lameness Diagnosis and Therapeutics and has completed the International Society for Equine Locomotor Pathology (ISELP) course in advanced musculoskeletal diagnosis, with a strong practical focus on ultrasonography. Bernardo has recently been recognised by the RCVS as an Advanced Practitioner in Equine Lameness, thus becoming the seventh vet in the UK with this designation.