by Kimberly K. Egan, MHC President (first published in the December 2024 Equiery)

At the end of this month, our dear friend Ross Peddicord will retire after 14 years as the Executive Director of the Maryland Horse Industry Board (MHIB) and a life at the heart of the Maryland horse industry – from a cadet in the mounted cavalry to the show ring to a fox chaser to a steeplechase jockey to the breeding shed to the Baltimore Sun to the Pulitzer Prize nomination list to the Maryland 5 Star to the Washington International Horse Show, and on and on. When Ross retires, our industry will lose a terrific champion of all things horse.

Ross’s influence is undeniable. Under his leadership, our industry has roughly tripled from an already substantial $1 billion industry in 2011 to a stunning $3 billion industry today, during a decade that included a global pandemic that saw much of the industry shuttered entirely for over a year.

Ross presided over the creation of the Maryland Horse Park System, which brought an FEI five-star three-day event to Fair Hill and an FEI five-star show jumping competition to the Prince George’s Equestrian Center. Ross grew our number of licensed stables to almost 800 stables strong, he created our popular network of Horse Discovery Centers, and he helped install Horseland as a fixture at the Maryland State Fair and other prominent equestrian venues around the state. Ross started MHIB’s Western Riding Committee and its Sport Horse Committee. He started the Touch of Class Awards program which honors “Maryland horses, individuals, teams, organizations or events that demonstrate the highest standards of excellence in the Maryland Horse Industry by achieving national or international recognition.”

Ross kept the horse industry on the Department of Agriculture’s radar, and he coached over a decade of Administration officials, state employees, and private sector leaders in the economic importance of the horse industry. We touched base with his most recent “boss,” Kevin Atticks, who said, “[I] worked with Ross for years before taking my current role as the Secretary of Agriculture. He has been a constant and staunch supporter of my work on value-added agriculture in the state, and he taught me much of what I know about our incredible horse industry.”

We also touched base with Jeff Newman, the President and CEO of the MARS Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill. “From the day I was hired in August 2019, Ross has been supportive in every way possible to ensure both my own and the event’s success to date,” Newman said. “As an Ex-Officio and active member of our Event Committee, his incredible knowledge and countless introductions to key constituents with the equestrian industry, sponsorship support and so much more, Ross has always been there for me when needed, ready and eager to help. He’s five star in every way.”

“Ross is a Maryland treasure and the horse industry’s greatest promoter,” said Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman, who is also a former president of the Maryland Horse Council and the founder of the Retired Racehorse Project. “He’s made life better for horsemen and horsewomen everywhere, and he’s set our industry in Maryland up for future success.”
How has he done it?

Part of it is that Ross is gregarious, ebullient, and generous to the core. He goes everywhere, talks to everyone, and absorbs everything. Jim Steele, who was the MHIB Chairman when Ross was hired, told The Equiery in 2021 that “Ross is an encyclopedia of knowledge and has an Energizer Bunny’s-worth of energy. He can go out and meet people as a friend, our kind of person so to speak, which is one of the reasons he is so great for this job.” Pittman told us in November of this year that Ross “has the rare mix of charisma, character, and creative talent that delivers progress wherever it appears.”

Ross is an especially skilled talent scout. Hope Birsh of Maryland Saddlery told us in January 2021 that “Ross is really good at spotting people who are passionate about this industry.” And he acts quickly once he spots someone. Birsh said, “His gift is bringing people together that might not always agree but they make something happen. He identifies talent, gets them started, and then sends them off to war!” Birsh added, “then he is there in your corner the whole time cheering you on and being so supportive.”
Anne Litz, MHIB’s Field Marketing Specialist, told us this month that “Ross has a remarkable ability to unite people, often seeing the potential for connection long before anyone else realizes it.”

Ross was in a perfect position to do talent spotting. He knows almost everyone there is to know because he has written about the horse industry for almost his entire professional life.

He won the Thoroughbred Racing Association’s award for the best magazine article of the year as a senior in college. His first job out of college was as a staff writer for the Horsemen’s Journal, which is the official publication of the National Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association. He was a handicapper and racing columnist for Baltimore Sun for 18 years, and he has been a contributing author to The Maryland Horse (now the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred) and to The Equiery, for decades. He sparked the anti-slaughter movement in the United States through his Baltimore Sun reporting with his 1989 series “The Last Ride,” which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

If there’s a story to be told in our industry, Ross has probably been the one to to tell it. Despite the fact that, as he told Emily Stakem at Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred recently, “I don’t really like to write. I find writing to be a hard and burdensome job. I’d much rather be doing something physical.”

Ross has done almost everything there is to do in the horse industry. He has worked as a groom, a Thoroughbred trainer, a steeplechase jockey, a Thoroughbred breeder, and a Thoroughbred owner. He was the publicist for the Laurel, Bowie, and Pimlico tracks. He started and ran the riding team at Mount St. Mary’s University in Frederick and then ran their Intercollegiate Horse Show Association team. He hunted for years with the Howard County Hounds. If two or more horse people meet in Maryland, chances are high that one of them is Ross.

And lastly, Ross did not play favorites. He supported all breeds, all regions, and all disciplines equally. He looked for, and therefore saw, the good in the entire industry. He understood that the success or failure of our industry could not depend on the success or failure of one particular sector. Ross cheered for everyone. Wildly, enthusiastically, and with great humor.

Ross’s many years of service to our industry will be missed tremendously. MHIB member and MHC former president, Neil Agate, says he will miss Ross’s “deep deep knowledge” about Maryland’s horse industry, and “his ever present ability to see the ‘big picture.’” Anne Litz told us that Ross’s “presence has made the Maryland Horse Industry a brighter, stronger, and more vibrant place,” in no small part because of his “relentless drive, infectious enthusiasm, and sharp wit.”

She adds that “Ross has championed the growth of the horse community in extraordinary ways,” and that “we will continue turning to him for guidance” for many years to come.

Secretary Atticks summed it up in two sentences: “The Administration is losing a legend of a horseman, a remarkable asset, and an all-round terrific guy. Godspeed, Ross.”

As a parting gift, Ross gave us our marching orders in his forward to the 2024 Horse Forum Report: “The challenge ahead is to build on this momentum. By continuing to speak openly, work together, and meet challenges head on, we will keep pushing our industry forward— creating positive change and ensuring that Maryland’s equine legacy continues to thrive for generations to come.”
We won’t let you down, Ross. We promise.