About Horsemen's Laboratory

Ivy Lewis

Ivy Lewis joined the Horsemen's Laboratory team in May of 2014 and purchased the business in April of 2020. She has had horses throughout her life and understands the challenges that horse owners face. Ivy graduated from the University of Illinois with a Bachelors in Pre-Veterinary Medicine in 2006. She then moved to Georgia and managed a wild animal safari until 2009 when she returned to the University of Illinois to start her Masters. While getting her Masters she ran the University of Illinois's standard bred horse breeding farm. There she had 5 stallions that were collected 3 days a week as well as 30+ mares that were bred on farm.

She also foaled out and ground trained the foals until they were sold as yearlings. Ivy was in charge of the sale preparation team as the yearlings and occasional mares were sold in the breeders sales. She graduated with a Masters in Animal Physiology in 2014. Her master thesis was a study on oestochondritis dissecans in yearlings and its effect on performance in 2 and 3 year old racing standard bred race horses.

Dr. John Byrd

Dr. John Byrd, the founder of Horsemen's Laboratory, has a lifetime of experience with horses. As a child until entering college he showed horses in pleasure and reining class. During college, Dr. Byrd developed an interest in Running Quarter Horses that included breeding, owning, and racing in eight states. He graduated from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine and was selected for the first large-animal medical residency at the University of Florida in 1977. During his junior year, he received the Illinois Standard bred Breeders award for the student most interested in equine medicine.

As an equine medicine practitioner in California for 13 years, Dr. Byrd served as ex-officio member of the board of directors of the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association where he also served as the organization's official sales veterinarian. In addition, Dr. Byrd frequently officiated as veterinarian for horse shows sponsored by the management of Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, California. Dr. Byrd's extensive experience with horses led him to observe how a horse's health could impact performance and out of that Horsemen's Laboratory was established in 1993.