Rusty Ford, Equine Programs Manager for the Kentucky Office of the State Veterinarian, was named the 2010 Equine Health Steward by the Kentucky Horse Council (KHC) at an awards banquet on Jan. 14. Ford has been safeguarding the health of Kentucky's horses for more than 20 years. His contributions to the planning and implementation of the import of foreign horses for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) were critical to the event's success.

Robert Stout, DVM, Kentucky state veterinarian said, "Rusty has an innate sense about epidemiology and management. He has common sense about what needs to happen. These are traits that cannot be taught."

During the WEG Ford was a key liaison between several entities including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Kentucky Department of Homeland Security, the USDA, World Equestrian Games Foundation, and the Kentucky Horse Park. "Rusty is an incredible asset to the Office of the State Veterinarian, veterinarians, equine event managers, and horse owners because of his connections within the industry and with the USDA as well as his inherent ability to recognize who needs to be involved in decision making processes," said Jeremy Whitman, DVM, KHC equine health and welfare committee chairman. "As an expert in epidemiology, Rusty diligently works to protect Kentucky horses from disease outbreaks such as contagious equine metritis, equine infectious anemia, and more recently piroplasmosis,"

In addition to his responsibilities with the department of agriculture, Ford is an active participant on the KHC Health and Welfare Committee and the chair of the Kentucky Equine Health and Welfare Council