by Murray Brown

Dr. John “Tad” Egloff is now in the ninth decade of a life well lived. The proprietor and founder, along with wife Judy, of Vieux Carre Farms in historic Gettysburg, PA, is also a well-accomplished veterinarian, a prominent and very successful horse breeder and an all-around good guy. He is in the midst of, so to speak, handing the lines over, to his sons Mark and Jay.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Tad said. “I hope I’m still a long way from completely retiring. But I’m 82 years old and I’ve turned a good part of the heavy lifting here on the farm over to my two sons.”

Let’s start at the beginning. I’ve always known you by Tad. Where does that name come from?

“When I was born, my granddad looked at me and said that I had a big head and a small butt, just like a tadpole. Ever since then, I’ve been Tad.”

You are from the great state of Texas, where the standardbred is virtually unknown. How did you become involved with our breed?

“It took a while before I became affiliated with standardbreds, but I’ve been consumed with a love of horses all of my life. It was a lifelong desire of mine to become a veterinarian, more specifically an equine veterinarian. I followed my dream at Texas A & M University.

“After I graduated from vet school. I had the chance to go to work at the world-renowned equine vet practice of Hagyard-Davidson-McGee in Lexington, KY. It was while at Hagyard-Davidson-McGee that I first was introduced to the standardbred. One of Dr. Art Davidson’s clients was Frank Ervin. Among the horses we helped take care of were the legendary Bret Hanover and Kerry Way.

“It was while I was there that Dr. Bill McGee was approached by Alan Leavitt, the owner of Lana Lobell Farms in Hanover, PA. Leavitt was looking for a vet specializing in equine reproduction. Did Dr. McGee have someone in his practice that he would recommend? I guess that someone was me. Alan approached me with an offer. I turned him down. He came back again with a better offer. I turned him down again. Dr. McGee then asked me if I got an offer that I couldn’t refuse, would I consider it? I said sure. Then Alan came back and asked me what it would take to get me to come to Lana Lobell. I came up with what I thought was a crazy price. Alan said, ‘I’ll have a plane there on Monday to pick you up.’ Thus began my life’s journey to beautiful Adams County in Pennsylvania.”

You began working at Lana Lobell in 1967.

“I was to stay there for 20 years with a short break where my wife Judy and I spent a breeding season in Australia at the great thoroughbred farm Widden Stud. We were there for a single season. They wanted us to stay indefinitely, but we were homesick and came home. Dr. McGee wanted me to rejoin his practice. Alan wanted me back at Lana Lobell. I decided that I’d prefer to be the big fish in the small pond at Lana Lobell, rather than the small one at the huge Hagyard-Davidson-McGee operation. It’s a decision I’ve never regretted.”

Looking back at your Lana Lobell years what thoughts come to mind?

“There are many. I was privileged to work with Jim Harrison for a decade. There were very few who knew more about the standardbred than Jim. He was one of the hardest workers that I’ve ever known. He not only worked hard himself, but he was very demanding of everyone who worked with him. We had what I look back as being an all-star team in breeding farm management with Jim being in charge; Tom Stewart, who went on to manage the stud careers of Meadow Skipper and Nevele Pride at Stoner Creek Stud at his flank, Mike Klau who now runs Southwind Farms where Muscle Hill, Walner and Tactical Landing stand was with us and I was picking up the rear. Jim would say ‘Alan owns the farm but I’m the one who runs it.’

“Two of the first stallions I was involved with were Noble Victory and Overtrick. It was from those two that I learned that when dealing with stallions there is absolutely no relationship between virility and fertility.

“Noble Victory was as virile a stallion as I have ever been associated with. It could be difficult to prevent him from hurting himself. When he was ready to breed, you had better be prepared as well. Otherwise, you might get run over. But his fertility left a lot to be desired. Your mare had better be right on the money if you expected her to get in foal.

“Overtrick on the other hand was as fertile a stallion as ever lived. If you didn’t want your mare to get in foal, you had best not get her inseminated by him. But his virility? I’m not even sure that he had any. There were times when we had him down in the breeding shed for two hours or more before we could even hope to collect him. We’d try him with mare after mare, before we came across one that he might have shown a liking for. John Goodnough who was the farm manager for Leonard Buck’s Allwood Farm had this gray mare that Overtrick showed a liking to. We would hope that she would be in heat. If she was, it would sometimes mean a shorter day in the breeding shed for everybody.

“We had Speedy Crown at the farm in Hanover before Alan decided to move him to New York. He was the perfect stallion or pretty darn close to one. In addition to him becoming one of the greatest stallions the breed has ever known, he was perfect in numerous areas. He was both virile and fertile. He was a perfect stallion to work with. When he left to go to New York, I rode along in the truck with him. That was the very last time I have done that. When that happened, the handwriting was on the wall for Lana Lobell Farms of Pennsylvania. We had been breeding somewhere in the area of 400 mares a breeding season. That was now down to a trickle of that number. The center of operation was moving to New York and New Jersey. By that time, Judy and I had developed a deep love for South Central Pennsylvania. I didn’t want to move. I was raising my family here. This was home. I had gathered a few horses of my own. I had bought a nice piece of land in Gettysburg. I felt it was time for me to go out on my own.”

In 1987, you went on your own.

“I was fortunate enough to have put together a pretty decent practice of my own. I had several outstanding clients including Hempt Farms, Lloyd Arnold, Fox Den Farms, Charlie Keller’s Yankeeland Farm and K. D. Owen. I was also putting together my own small place. I was approached by Don Seiling who had boarded his mares at Lana Lobell. He asked if I would take them to my new place. I said that I didn’t think I was quite ready to take on resident horses. He asked me where I was going to board my own horses. I told him, at my place, of course. [He said,] ‘If that is the case, then you need to take mine as well. If your place is good enough for your horses, it should be good enough for mine.’ That is how I got my first client.

“Through the years my client base both through my practice and at the farm grew. We became consignors at both Harrisburg and Lexington. I as well as some of my clients are invested in many of the sport’s major stallions. I’ve cut down on my workload in the last 10 years or so. Two of my colleagues, Dr. Hurtgen and Dr. Dye suffered heart attacks and died while delivering dystocias. I took that as a warning sign. I was now 72. It was time to cut down some. I stopped delivering problem mares. My two boys Mark and Jay were ready to seize the baton.”

Let’s talk about your boys.

“Mark is my first born. He has always been ‘horsey.’ He has been active on the farm since I started it. He is an accomplished polo player and was a competitive wrestler while in college. He attended University of Virginia on a wrestling scholarship, but switched to polo after a summer working for my best friend ever, George Hempt at his Hempt Farms. George introduced him to polo and Mark became in love with the sport. He soon switched from wrestling to polo at UVa. He made the team and ultimately joined the National Championship team. He is now the farm manager. We are in good hands with him in charge.

“Jay is next in line. He attended LSU on a wrestling scholarship. While there, he began playing football. Within a while he had made the varsity team and became the starting fullback at LSU. After college he enlisted in the United States Marines Corps where he served as a fighter pilot. He is now retired as a Lieutenant Colonel after serving for 22 years, including stints in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is ‘retired,’ if you call it that, but he works at the farm as Mark’s right-hand man. Both boys are exceptional horseman and neither is afraid of work. I’m still around to help out with some advice and I am available for any vet work which I might be called upon to perform. It has been a very good life, one to which I would not consider making any changes even if I were able to do so.”