Wisdom meets work ethic: Vaughan mentee earns fitting award

By Troy Johnson

Wherever Dr. Johnny Mac Smith practiced veterinary medicine, he carried the words of the late Dr. John Thomas Vaughan with him. From private practice to his co-founding of one of the nation’s largest equine hospitals, Smith’s office has always held a framed copy of a message Vaughan wrote in the yearbooks of the Auburn University DVM program’s Class of 1976.

“It’s been my observation that success in this profession doesn’t require genius, but rather the willingness to do hard work and do it when it is needed,” began the message from Vaughan, then the department head of large animal medicine who became dean of the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1977.

In accepting the J.T. Vaughan Outstanding Equine Service Award, Dr. Johnny Mac Smith shared anecdotes about the late former dean’s impact on his professional journey in veterinary medicine

A willingness to do the hard and necessary work represents one of the reasons why Smith earned the J.T. Vaughan Outstanding Equine Service Award during the college’s 118th Annual Conference on October 3. Other hints can be found further into the framed message Vaughan wrote nearly 50 years ago.

“For satisfaction and challenge, set a goal that will test your outer limits and then fight against those limits until you have created a new dimension,” Vaughan advised.

Smith could have been content to remain a solo private practitioner in racetrack, broodmare and training horse settings after earning his DVM at Auburn, but he and Dr. John Peterson took a risk in starting Peterson & Smith Equine Hospital in Ocala, Fla., in 1981. Smith, a Dozier, Ala., native, credits his wife, Lucy, for believing in him as he was “signing away everything we owned to build an equine clinic.” Originally launched out of Peterson’s farm, the practice grew to include a dedicated hospital in 1983 with the eventual additions of a surgery barn and other facilities. Now known as Peterson Smith, the hospital also became the first private equine practice to start a surgery residency program.

Dr. Johnny Mac Smith, a 1976 Auburn DVM graduate, expressed appreciation to his family for believing in him. That included his wife, Lucy, having confidence in his vision for an equine practice event though it meant “signing away everything we owned.”

“We made a pact when we first started our partnership that we were never going to hire anyone who wasn’t smarter than us,” Smith said.

While Smith left active practice in 1993, the hospital he co-founded “remains a force in the equine world,” according to Dr. Anne Wooldridge, head of the Department of Clinical Sciences in Auburn’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

Smith’s professional highlights include service as a member of the yearling selection team for Keeneland, an appointed member of the Kentucky Equine Drug Research Committee and an 18-year relationship with the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation that now includes service as its A. Gary Lavin Chair. The foundation funds equine veterinary research to improve horse health and welfare. As the Lavin Chair, Smith recruits and collaborates with the foundation’s 32-member Research Advisory Committee to review grant applications and ultimately determine which proposals to fund. In 2025, the foundation awarded more than $2.6 million to support 16 new and 10 continuing projects at 17 universities.

Through it all, Smith has followed the guidance Vaughan offered on the pages of his yearbook.

“For charity, give without remembering,” Vaughan counseled. “For gratitude, receive without forgetting.”

For Smith, the latter has been particularly important. While working as a farrier during his time as a student, he would often soak up wisdom from Vaughan during his visits to the blacksmith shop. He hasn’t forgotten the confidence those conversations instilled him or the family members and colleagues who believed in him when he was unsure about his next step.

“This is a very special award for me because I was privileged to have Dr. Vaughan as a mentor during my time at vet school,” Smith said. “… I’ve always been surrounded by people who saw in me what I couldn’t see in myself. Sometimes, it dragged me kicking and screaming into things I couldn’t believe I could do.”

Smith imagined what Vaughan might say to him today, knowing that he has earned an award that bears his name.

“He would look me in the eye with a grin and I would hope he would say something like, ‘Smith, you have actually become a fair to middling if not humble and obedient servant to your profession,’” he said.