|
Champagne
winner Ordway stood at Claiborne
after
retirement |
The true
love of Frank's life, Urbane, multiple
graded-stakes winner bred by Frank |
Biography:
Candace Lundin, DVM, MS
Like Frank, Candace grew up in a family
unconnected with horses and, yet, horses were
her passion from the earliest she can remember.
Her parents always assumed that she would “grow
out of it”. Unfortunately for Candace, she did
“grow”---she grew too tall to be a jockey! At
just 12 years old, she was already 5’7”, but she
still hiked up the stirrups on her pinto
Shetland Pony, leaned over its withers, and
pretended to race.
As soon as Candace admitted to herself as a
young teenager that the dream of being a jockey
was not realistic, she decided that she would
become a veterinarian to care for horses. She
was born and raised in Manhattan, Kansas, a
college town with a veterinary school. So, her
educational path was planned out in her mind
long before she ever entered high school.
During this time, Kansas State University (KSU)
built the largest state-of-the-art veterinary
teaching hospital in the country (for that
time).
|
Dr.
Candace Lundin (1986) |
After graduating in 1985 with a Doctor of
Veterinary Medicine degree, Candace (now Dr.
Lundin) was asked by the Head of the Equine
Department to stay on and become the veterinary
hospital’s first-ever equine intern. Though KSU
is not an “Ivy League school”, KSU veterinary
school graduates of that year had the highest
mean score on the National Veterinary Board
Examination of any College of Veterinary
Medicine in the country.
Candace continued another year at KSU to obtain
a Master of Science Degree, with research in
equine exercise physiology (sports medicine for
horses). At that time, KSU was 1 of only 3
locations in the USA with a high-speed treadmill
for horses (Washington State and Tufts
University were the others) and Candace wanted
to exploit that opportunity. Her thesis research
involved analyses of performance indices in
racing Quarter Horses on the treadmill and the
track.
|
Candace (background) supervising
equine physiology research on one of
the first high speed treadmills in
the US (1986) |
|
Equine sports medicine |
In 1987, Candace left Kansas and headed to
Virginia to spend 2 years specializing in equine
surgery at the Marion DuPont Scott Equine
Medical Center. She examined and treated many
different cases while at Morven Park, including
one elephant! She met “famous” and nonfamous
people but was most surprised one night while on
emergency duty by Col. Oliver North, arriving
with his daughter’s colicky pony! It was in
Virginia where Candace bought her first horse
for racing—steeplechase racing. She finally got
to gallop a race horse!
Over the next 8 years, Candace moved from
Baltimore (where she was in a private equine
practice) to the suburbs of Chicago where she
was a medical editor at the American Veterinary
Medical Association (AVMA, the national
membership organization for veterinarians) to
New York City (where she managed global
scientific communication plans for Pfizer’s
Animal Health Division) ----all the while
maintaining contacts and horses in Virginia.
She “commuted” back to the horse country of
Virginia several times monthly.
While at the AVMA, Candace assisted in getting
Veterinary Medical Assistance Teams (VMATs)
formed and participating as part of The Federal
Response Plan activated as part of the National
Disaster Medical System (NDMS) during times of
disaster declarations. Candace was Coordinator
of Emergency Preparedness for the AVMA when
Hurricane Marilyn hit St. Thomas. At 10am on a
Monday morning, a call came in from Colonel
Rebuck of NDMS, Dept of Health and Human
Services to Candace: “Dr. Lundin, we have a
mission assignment” is what he said, Candace
swears!
Though Candace’s career path has continued to
move further into pharmaceutical research and
medical publishing, she keeps a continual hand
in the horse racing and breeding business,
consulting on lamenesses and other veterinary
medical problems, advising on
fitness/conditioning issues, and evaluating
conformation of potential purchases at auction.
Candace and Frank met on a blind date at the
Traver’s Ball in Saratoga Springs in 1991. How
ironic that two Midwesterners, without “horsey
pedigrees,” without family traditions of horse
racing , both stubbornly pursued their interest
in horses, only to meet at one of the most
revered and historic locations in all of
racing—Saratoga. Candace and Frank were married
in 1997.
Philosophy
|
Overmedication and marketing
gimmicks |
•
If you like high veterinary bills because you
think that the answer to winning is in
overmedication, our training/racing program is
not for you. Marketing gimmicks are rampant in
the equine industry and trainers can easily fall
prey to them (at the expense of the owners’
pocketbook).
•
Too often, young race horses are sent out to
gallop around a track without ever having
learned the basics of balance and going in a
proper frame while carrying the weigh of a rider
on their back. Under Frank's tutelage, horses
learn to use themselves properly during the
early breaking stages so that a trainer is not
trying to correct a long standing problem
further down the road.
•
Frank is hands-on with the horses he trains. He
is with the horses at the training barn 7 days a
week and comes back each evening to check on
them. He does not leave their care to hired
hands while sitting comfortably in a business
office, figuring out how to market his services.
• As a
veterinarian with post-graduate training in
equine surgery and equine exercise physiology,
and experienced in critically analyzing
scientific data, Candace provides consultation
to Frank (at no charge!) in terms of the newest
(and proven) treatment modalities. She can
easily sort through and discard the “research”
that has been performed by marketing teams, as
opposed to those with legitimate medical study
results. Fads come and go in the “treatment” of
horses, and Candace helps Frank and his clients
recognize these. At the same time that tradition
plays such an elegant role in the sport of horse
racing, tradition in “treating” certain
conditions slows the industry from moving into
the modern age of equine sports medicine.
|
Why
not just use a blowtorch on those
shins? |
• Let’s
be honest. Making money in horse racing can be a
challenge. Most horses are not profitable.
Racing syndicates with marketing staff will
rarely, if ever, admit that to the potential
clients they are trying to lure in. Sure, the
financial rewards can be tremendous if you are
lucky enough to be one of the few who end up
with a champion. Most of us though, will not. It
doesn’t mean that we won’t keep trying. In the
meantime, we can have a great time cheering on
our horses while hoping and dreaming of that BIG
ONE someday.
•
Horse racing is a sport. However, most of us
also have to treat it as a business because we
are not independently wealthy. It is sport for
kings, but a sport AND business for the rest of
us. Frank appreciates the costs that owners must
bear (because he is one them) and he will be
careful with your money. He will not encourage
you to continue with an unsound horse in
training simply to keep a stall filled.
Our Farm
Dog Branch Farm, near the tiny
community of Unison, Virginia, is home to Frank,
Candace, 4 dogs (plus puppies periodically), 5
cats, and 12-15 horses, including broodmares and
foals, yearlings for sales prepping, and layups.
The farm is less than 10 minutes driving time
from the Middleburg Training Center.
Recommendations
|
A thank
you from an appreciative owner |
“Frank’s racing stable and his nearby farm are
like athletic facilities for a fine prep school,
of which Frank is the principal. Year after
year, Country Life Farm and our clients have
sent young horses to Frank. He is a complete
horseman.”
Josh Pons, Owner, Country Life Farm, Maryland
“I have always been unreservedly happy with the
personal care Frank has devoted to each
individual, and the vital, frank (no pun
intended) communication between trainer and
owner. Frank puts the owner’s interests first.”
Anthony Warrender, horse owner, Virginia
“I've known Frank for 12 years. I consider him
the consummate horseman, demonstrating expertise
in all aspects of thoroughbred management---from
newborns to retirees, from horsemanship to
bloodstock analysis. He possesses a wealth of
pedigree knowledge, is an astute advisor
relative to buying and selling, and is blessed
with a particularly keen eye for conformation
and gait. Most of all, this is a man of
integrity. I have been involved in the
thoroughbred business for over 45 years--as an
owner, breeder, and advisor. Never have I met
another with whom I felt such confidence. For
many years Frank has been my first choice, for
my clients' horses and my own. Horses in Frank’s
care thrive physically and mentally. I have
given Frank my best, and they have bloomed under
his care.”
Dr. Robert Fishman, owner, breeder, bloodstock
advisor, Pennsylvania
