The American Association of Equine Practitioners, headquartered in Lexington, Ky., was founded in 1954 as a non-profit organization dedicated to the health and welfare of the horse. Currently, AAEP reaches more than five million horse owners through its 6,500 members worldwide and is actively involved in ethics issues, practice management, research and continuing education in the equine veterinary profession and horse industry.
Ray Paulick, editor in chief of The Blood-Horse and executive vice president and editorial director of Blood-Horse Publications, has been selected as the American Association of Equine Practitioners' (AAEP) equine industry representative on the group's board of directors. His term will begin during the AAEP's 49th Annual Convention in New Orleans, La., November 21-25, 2003, and run through 2006."Ray was selected for this position because of his knowledge of the equine industry and his ability to analyze issues from both the industry's and horse's perspective," said Dr. Wayne McIlwraith, AAEP past president and chairman of the AAEP's Nominating Committee. "We look forward to his contributions to the AAEP's decision-making processes."Paulick's career has been dedicated to coverage of the Thoroughbred industry. He joined The Blood-Horse as editor in chief in May 1992 and took on the additional responsibilities of executive vice president and editorial director as the company expanded through the addition of the multi-breed horse health magazine, The Horse: Your Guide to Equine Health Care, and the development of Eclipse Press, an equine book publisher, as well as custom publishing and new media divisions.Blood-Horse Publications is a non-profit company owned by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. The Blood-Horse magazine was first published in 1916, and Paulick is only the publication's fifth editor in chief, following Thomas Cromwell, Joe Estes, Kent Hollingsworth and Edward Bowen.Prior to joining Blood-Horse Publications, he spent more than a dozen years with other Thoroughbred publications, including Thoroughbred Times, The Racing Times, and Daily Racing Form. Paulick has been a visible spokesman for the industry when a subject of interest arises with the general media. He has been interviewed on various subjects by NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, National Public Radio, BusinessWeek, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and other national media. In 2000, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders named him as recipient of the Charles W. Engelhard Award.Paulick lives in Lexington, Ky., with his wife Carol and their two children. A native of Rockford, Ill., he attended the University of Florida."I have long admired the AAEP as an extremely effective organization, so I am looking forward to seeing the inner workings as well as adding whatever input I can from an obviously different perspective than that of the veterinary board members," said Paulick.