Dr. J. Kevin Hahn,

DVM

Dr. Hahn, who was born in Wyoming and grew up in Colorado, was one of the first veterinarians hired by the practice. His family moved to Fort Collins, Colo., when he was young —and he enjoyed team roping and skiing. He attended vet school at Colorado State University.

“Dr. Matthews was a classmate of mine and we both graduated in 1981,” Hahn said. “I did an internship at Littleton Large Animal Clinic in Denver for a year, then came to Ocala to work with Dr. Peterson and Dr. Smith in 1982, where Dr. Matthews was already working.

“At that time, the four of us were ambulatory practitioners, working out of Dr. Peterson’s Thoroughbred stud barn.

“In 1983 we built the clinic and Dr. Slone joined us as a surgeon.

“My role has been mainly lameness and reproduction. We have been fortunate, adding associates and increasing the size of the hospital.

When the advanced fertility clinic opened, Hahn remained at the hospital and worked in the field despite his expertise in reproduction.

“Dr. Smith retired in the early 1990’s. We brought in Dr. Russell and several others over the years, including Dr. Lynch, who is retiring with us at this time. The practice had its ups and downs with the economy, but the horse industry here has been strong. This enabled us to continue to grow even through bad times.

“The horse industry has changed, however, over the years. When we first started, our clients were mainly large Thoroughbred farms, some small Thoroughbred farms and a few other breeds. The Thoroughbred industry here has changed. We don’t do as much reproductive work and are working more with horses in training—though there is still a fair amount of breeding here,” Hahn said.

“Many good people have come through this practice, both lay staff and vet staff. I will miss all of them. The practice is in good shape and will keep doing even bigger and better things,” Hahn said.

“I have slowed my practice here over the past few years so retirement won’t be a drastic change. I will miss going to the farms and working with the clients.

“My family will stay here, however. We don’t have any plans to leave. I have a lot of catching up to do on our own farm. There have been many things I’ve let go over the years and there will be a lot of work to be done there. I enjoy doing things around our farm.”

For the first time in 42 years he will be able to travel in the spring—since this was always the busiest time in the practice, doing reproduction work.

“I will be able do some things I was never able to do and travel with my wife and family. My wife and I have been married 35 years. She was two years behind me in vet school; she retired last summer as dean of students at the University of Florida vet school. She has been really busy also these past 35 years.”

“I have two boys in college. Tanner goes to North Florida and Colter goes to FSU. We also have a 13-year-old daughter, Eva Mae, who is in 8th grade and ready to start high school. We adopted her from China, and she’s a blessing.”

On the family farm, Hahn raises Corriente cattle.

“These are Mexican cattle, mainly used for roping. I grew up riding horses and roping,” Hahn said. “I started team roping as a boy, then started professional rodeo when I was 14. My father put on the largest jackpot roping in Colorado back in the ‘80s. Today I raise Corriente roping cattle just for fun. I’ve had horses my whole life, until recently. That was my interest in going to vet school, to become a horse vet.” t

Dr. Slone graduated from the University of Missouri in 1976 with a veterinary degree, then went to Auburn for his internship and residency to become certified in veterinary surgery. While at Auburn University, he became acquainted with Dr. Reuben Brawner, who was instrumental in Sloan coming to Ocala.

“Dr. Brawner was one of the early patriarchs of the equine veterinary family here in Ocala— and a legend in his time. He was not only very smart but also a really nice guy. I knew him because when I was at Auburn doing my residency, my mentor was Dr. Tom Vaughan. He suggested I come to Ocala in the fall to attend the Ocala Equine Conference. I always came on Friday night and the meeting started at noon on Saturday. I’d make rounds with Dr. Brawner Saturday morning and go to several places,” Slone recalled on how he became familiar with Ocala.

“During my seven years at Auburn, he and I had a number of conversations because [Dr. Brawner] knew I was interested in private practice,” Sloan said. “At that time, this was unusual. Most people who got board certified in surgery in those days stayed at a university. I told him Ocala looked like it was ready for some good hospitals and surgery facilities.

“In December 1982, the American Association of Equine Practitioners meeting was in Atlanta. I was studying for my boards, but decided to go to that meeting to see what I could learn. I ran into Dr. Brawner and he asked if I was still interested in being part of a private practice and coming to Ocala. He told me John Peterson and Johnny Mac Smith were building a hospital and looking for someone to join them.

“I knew Dr. Johnny Mac Smith; I’d run into him a few times already. Dr. Brawner introduced me to John, who told me they wanted a boarded surgeon to join them. I was taking the boards in February of 1983 and as soon as I got word that I passed them, I called John and set up an interview with him—and they hired me.”

Slone moved his family to Ocala in June of 1983 and his official start day was July 1, just days before the hospital opened.

“The grand opening of the hospital was July 10, 1983. Dr. Matthews and Dr. Hahn were here already, doing ambulatory work. The hospital still wasn’t ready to do surgery when it opened but I was helping get the finish work done, and equipment purchased. We did our first surgery a week or two after the Grand Opening celebration.”

When Slone came, there were five veterinarians in the practice and it grew from there.

“I was doing colics, orthopedics, sick foals, eye patients, took all the x-rays, etc. As time went on, we hired other people to do some of those things. I became more specialized and mostly did racehorse and sport horse surgeries—mainly fractures, arthroscopy, upper respiratory surgeries, etc. In the beginning it was almost all racehorses. Over the years this changed; today about half of what we do involves other breeds and other disciplines. Some of our veterinarians now work with more sport horses than racehorses. But most of what I do is still centered around the racing industry.”

After retirement, Slone will continue to help with the transition to the new surgeons.

“I will make my transition a step at a time. I don’t have any concrete plans but will continue doing things I’ve enjoyed.

“I’ve been a Boy Scout leader for 35 years and I am active in the church and will keep doing that. I try to stay fit and do triathlons. I didn’t do any through COVID, but I did a triathlon this past October. I do the swim-bike-run several times a week and will probably have more time to do that.

“I will probably still help out here at the hospital. We have two new surgeons and I will help where I’m needed. I don’t mind consulting, but will let them do the surgery,” Slone says.

“A person can’t do all these things in a vacuum, by yourself. Surgery requires a great team. I have always had interns, resi-

Dr. Lynch graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1991 and did an internship at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., and a surgical residency at Michigan State University from 1992 to 1995.

“Then I moved to Ohio for five years and worked at a practice there, as Staff Surgeon at Equine Specialty Hospital in Cleveland,” Lynch said.

He became board certified by the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1999.

“Someone I knew was in Fort Lauderdale, working at Tiegland, Franklin and Brokken and asked if I’d like to join that practice,” Lynch said. “We moved to Fort Lauderdale for three years and I became their staff surgeon from 2000 to 2002, then saw there was an opening here.”

He joined Peterson Smith in 2002 to head the sports medicine program and became a Partner in 2007, buying out Dr. Peterson’s share.

Lynch’s clinical interests include lameness, scintigraphy, performance profiling and gastrointestinal surgery. He has been doing arthroscopy, upper airway surgery, emergency colic surgery, and dealing with sports medicine injuries—doing bone scans, imaging and lameness.

“It’s been really busy here, but we have three new people—including Andrew Smith, who did his residency and got his PhD from UF and joined us in August,” Lynch said. “We also have Marco Perez, who did his residency at UC-Davis. A new medicine person, Dr. Lisa Edwards—who also did her residency at U-C dents and technical staff who were part of that team. The practice has supported me and referring veterinarians have supported me.

“I have always had my family behind me. I have two daughters, who are busy physicians, and a wife who has been by my side for 48 years. I always called her the quartermaster. She made sure the family was fed and clothed and got where they were supposed to be.”

Davis—is coming to work with Dr. Clark. Lisa started January 1 but the others already started and are doing well. There will be a continuity of care.

“This was one of the first practices that provided full service and there have been many good people go through here. We four are the first to mass retire. We have good people who will take over. Some who have been here a long time became giants in their field and are very well known.

“It’s been a great time here and I will miss everyone and all the horses and their owners and trainers. I made many good friends. I will certainly miss the place, but probably not the hours,” Lynch said.

“I am not yet sure what I will do in retirement. I will probably travel and do some surgical locums—going to various places for a week or two, working when I want to and doing what I want to do. There is always a need for surgeons, so I will help out here and there,” he says.

“We will probably spend some time back in Madison, Wisconsin where my wife and I went to school, then see what develops. We will keep busy, do some traveling, and enjoy the next chapter of our lives.” TFH

No tax on stallion seasons

No personal state income tax

No individual capital gains tax

National leader in veterinary and equine research

Ranks second in the U.S. for number of thoroughbred horses

Feed and animal health items, along with other specific items, are also exempt

Horses are exempt from sales tax when purchased from their original breeder

Florida’s greenbelt exemption provides property taxbreaks for Florida horse farms

Physical climate allows for year-round training, racing, showing and business opportunities

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND CONSUMER SERVICES

Wilton Simpson, Commissioner www.FDACS.gov