Caddel Announces Retirement from Hallway Feeds

After 30+ years, Hallway Feeds Technical Services Team Member Steve Caddel has announced his retirement in April 2022 from the leading equine feed manufacturer. Caddel has been a key part of many initiatives that improved the health and performance of Hallway Feeds-fed horses. 
     Growing up in Uvalde, Texas, Caddel was immersed in the agricultural lifestyle of his grandparents and parents. After a two-year stint in the Army, Caddel finished his bachelor's degree at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, with his eye on a move to the Bluegrass State.
     "I'd been around Thoroughbreds and I knew I wanted to get to Kentucky to learn more," said Caddel. "I wanted to learn how to breed Thoroughbreds to race."
     In 1989, Caddel and his wife Linda moved to Kentucky--she subsequently opened an equine therapy center offering services to performance horses. Caddel began working for Hallway Feeds in technical services and sales in April of 1991. While working at Hallway Feeds, Caddel quickly became an invaluable part of the Thoroughbred community, balancing science with real-world knowledge of horses to give helpful advice on feed choices. He also gathered important data from on-the-ground experiences.
     "I was out on the farm seeing the horses," Caddel said. "When we would try something new, I could see if it was working or not. That allowed me to bring useful information back to [Hallway Feeds]. It wasn't anything planned, that's just how it evolved."
Chris Baker, chief operating officer at Three Chimney Farms, has worked with Caddel for almost 30 years. He says Caddel's expertise extends beyond being the "Feed Man."
    "Clearly well-versed in the role nutrition plays in our quest to create and develop fast horses, Steve's broader understanding of management, horse handling and numerous other challenges horsemen face make him a unique resource," Baker said.
Hallway Feeds Vice President Lee C. Hall has worked with Caddel since the beginning, and says his tireless work has made him an icon in the Thoroughbred industry.
    "Having weighed, measured and body condition scored more Thoroughbreds than any other individual worldwide, Steve has led Hallway Feeds in collecting the largest set of growth data on the breed in the world," Hall said. 
     Caddel has been part of many of Hallway Feeds' revolutionary initiatives, from incorporating body condition score data into growth management, to a growth study with Kentucky Equine Research resulting from the collection of weight and height data of thousands of horses being fed the feeds, to the advent of using information gleaned from radiographs to pinpoint joint issues. Throughout his time with Hallway Feeds, Caddel knew his vision for helping horses reach their greatest potential was a worthy goal.
     "My philosophy has always been, there's a special group of horses that are right at the top, that are going to be successful no matter what part people play in it, no matter what humans do," Caddel said. "But then there's a group right under them, that whether they're successful or not, depends on their human interaction. How they're fed, how they're cared for, how your staff interacts with them. We've just always tried to find out how to make sure that group goes on and is successful."
    Hermitage Farm general manager Bill Landes says Caddel is one of the finest men he's ever met, and his values are visible.
    "What bleeds through Steve Caddel are his love for Linda and pride in his daughters, Katey and Jessie; his loyalty to the Pagan (Dr. Joe Pagan of Kentucky Equine Research) and Hallway teams; his professionalism, interest in research and overall dedication to the horse; and his advice and availability at all times to that end," Landes said.
    Polly Bonnor, Director of Thoroughbred Nutrition at Saracen Horse Feeds in the United Kingdom, counts Caddel as "a trusted friend and respected colleague for over 20 years."
    "Steve remains unduly modest about the many accomplishments in his long and varied career, but I hope he can look back and feel a true sense of fulfillment and a quiet satisfaction knowing what a difference he has made to the many thousands of horses he has been involved with," Bonnor said. "I feel very lucky to have had him to turn to for advice and expertise."
Although Caddel's time with Hallway Feeds is nearly complete, he says an upcoming seminar collaborating with the feed company and Dr. Joe Pagan of Kentucky Equine Research (KER) discussing the results of many years of growth data compared to health records, sales results, and performance records will be the highlight of his career.
     "I think it's going to be the culmination of everything we're trying to do here," Caddel said. "It's not the answer, but it'll be the first step."
    Pagan says Caddel was the driving force behind Hallway's Thoroughbred growth monitoring service, and utilizing KER's Gro-Trac growth monitoring software, "this service has created the world's most comprehensive equine growth database."
    "Congratulations Steve for your massive contribution to the Thoroughbred industry's understanding of the relationship between growth and performance," Pagan said.