Dr. Tom Mariën was born in Belgium on October 1st, 1970 .

In 1994, he graduated from the University of Ghent with highest distinction. He stayed on for one year as an assistant at the department of surgery. After which time he decided to further specialise in the United States where he trained under the eyes of Dean Richardson, Larry Bramlage, Barrie Grant, Alan Ruggles, and others. 

Since then Tom's had a remarkable career.

He developed new surgical techniques, which are used worldwide and is invited regularly as a guest speaker at international conferences. He published dozens of articles in scientific journals and was asked to co-author surgical textbooks (e.g. Equine Diagnostic & Surgical Laparoscopy).

In 2002 he founded his Equine Hospital “Equitom”. He chose Lummen, because of the central location within Belgium and Europe, as well as its easy accessibility from the major highways.  In the years to follow, the clinic became internationally renowned by riders and horse owners.  

To be able to keep up with the increasing demand, the team has expanded, and after 10 years, he was finally able to acquire the necessary permits to construct a new hospital. Minister Kris Peeters officially opened the new infrastructure in 2014.

A few months after the opening a growing demand existed for a specialised orthopaedic centre with a rehabilitation department.

Plans were made and the construction already started in 2016. The new infrastructure, purpose built for sports medicine and rehabilitation, officially opened on the 1st of September 2017.

In 2019, Equitom invested in the ‘ Castle of Mazy ' in Wallonia in order to build a new equine clinic and offer high quality veterinary medicine. The inauguration of this brand new clinic is planned for 2022.

In 2020 Equitom invested in a robotic CT scanner (EDAMIS ). This makes Equitom the first equine clinic in Europe with this high-tech robot. The robot was officially inaugurated on June 25th, 2021 by Governor Jos Lantmeeters and Mayor Luc Wouters.

In Feb 2021, Tom Mariën, founder of equine clinic Equitom, Frederik Bruyninx, Sports Veterinarian and team veterinarian of the Belgian show jumping team and Bencis Capital Partners, an investment fund established the Equine Care Group ("ECG"). 

The Equine Care Group brings veterinarians and clinics together with the aim of achieving absolute top medicine and doing so internationally.

https://www.equinecaregroup.com/en/

Equitom is expanding significantly. This expansion includes a new operating theatre with a state-of-the-art operating theatre equipped with the latest technologies, a conference and multimedia room and 50 additional hospitalisation boxes. This expands Equitom's total hospitalisation capacity to 150 horses. The official opening is scheduled for May 2023.