Governor O’Malley Appoints Taneytown Veterinarian to Maryland Horse Industry Board

Dr. Michael Odian

ANNAPOLIS, MD (June 30, 2014) –  Governor Martin O’Malley has appointed Dr. Michael Odian from Taneytown (Carroll County) to serve as the licensed veterinarian representative on the Maryland Horse Industry Board (MHIB), a program within the Maryland Department of Agriculture. Dr. Odian, 45, succeeds Dr. John Lee, who had been an MHIB member for 10 years.

“We applaud Dr. Lee for his exemplary service to Maryland’s equine industry, and we are delighted to welcome Dr. Odian, who is also an outstanding equine veterinarian, to succeed him,’ said MHIB Chairman Jim Steele.

Dr. Odian, who has been practicing veterinary medicine for 19 years, operates a general equine practice focusing on sport horse medicine. His clients include many of the top competition horses in the state, from Grand Prix jumpers and A Circuit show hunters to World Champion Western reining horses. He also breeds and raises Clydesdale and Percheron draft horses and is president of the Maryland Draft Horse and Mule Association.

Dr. Odian received his B.S. at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. and his veterinary degree at the Atlantic Veterinary College at the University of Prince Edward Island. He formerly served as the track veterinarian for the Thistledown Thoroughbred track and the Northfields Park Standardbred track in Ohio before moving to Maryland in 2003. Dr. Odian is a member of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, the American Veterinary Medical Association and the International Society of Equine Locomotive Pathology.  He and his wife, Maureen, have two children. Their daughter, Michaela, competes in Dressage competitions.

The MHIB, established 1998, is a commodities board that represents the state’s equine industry. Its main functions are to license the state’s commercial lesson, boarding, rental and rescue stables and to promote, market and help grow the industry. For more information about MHIB, contact Executive Director Ross Peddicord at 410-841-5798 or [email protected]. Or visit the website .

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