Dr. Gustafson was raised on her family’s Cross Three Ranch on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana. She spent her youth riding foundation cow horses moving cattle to summer pasture, riding fences, sorting pairs, and doctoring sick calves. She learned valuable western horsemanship skills by being involved in 4H and participating in youth rodeo organizations. As time went on, she started competing in the Montana High School Rodeo Association and Montana Cutting Horse Association. She qualified for the Montana State High School Finals in girls cow cutting, pole bending, and barrel racing, and qualified for the National High School Finals Rodeo and MCHA finals in cow cutting. Whenever work allows, she still competes in ladies barrel racing and breakaway roping events in the Indian National Finals Rodeo Association and Womans Professional Rodeo Association. She also enjoys training young horses and taking horseback rides packing in the mountains.

Dr. Gustafson’s veterinary interests include surgery, sports medicine and rehabilitation, imaging, and emergency medicine. If she has any spare time, she enjoys doing anything outside! She particularly loves riding and training horses, competing in barrel racing and roping, hiking, skiing, attending farmers markets, gardening, reading, and cooking.

Education:

2016-2020: Montana State University – BS in Microbiology and graduate of the Montana State Honors College

2020-2024: Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine