Beloved Veterinarian Fishback Dies at 76

Friends and clients of Dr. William Davis "Dave" Fishback Jr. could not say enough about the kindness, warmth, and dedication shown by the beloved Central Kentucky equine veterinarian whose loss they mourned July 17. Fishback died at his home off Pisgah Pike the previous evening. He was 76.

Fishback was a valued member of the team at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, where he began working in 1975 and retired in 2018.

Dr. Stuart Brown, vice president of equine safety at Keeneland, became Fishback's first veterinary assistant when Brown was a freshman in college. Fishback and Dr. David Parrish became mentors for Brown who later joined the equine practice in 1991 after earning his veterinary license.

"When Dave retired, he told me he had the best job in the world because he got to get up every day and spend time with his best friends, taking care of their horses, and got paid for it," Brown said.

"The reverence of the relationship that veterinarians share with their clients is so special here in Central Kentucky," he continued. "The bonds that people form because of the work they do together and the time spent together. They very much become like your family. Dave, of all people, was emblematic of that. He had a great relationship with farm managers and farm owners. He had generational relationships with so many people."

Fishback was remembered for his quiet, deliberate manner and sharp intuition whenever he was working around horses or cattle. They were skills he acquired while growing up on his family's farm in Woodford County, off of McCracken Pike, where his father raised Angus show cattle, raised tobacco and hay, and eventually got into the Thoroughbred breeding business.

"He and Dr. Parrish used to joke that they would send me to see Dr. (Doug) Byars and Dr. (Jim) Becht to learn the science of veterinary medicine and then I would learn the art of veterinary medicine from them. Dave had a special bedside manner," said Brown.

Don Robinson, the owner of Winter Quarter Farm who has known Fishback since they were in seventh grade, described his friend's veterinary skill as "incredibly perceptive and very deliberate."

"To me, he was the farm guy's vet. He was practical and smart and easygoing. Nothing ever rattled him," he said.

Robinson added that he and Fishback were not close as children but that their relationship developed after Fishback became his veterinarian in 1981. Renowned reproduction vet Dr. Ed Fallon, who was Robinson's neighbor, had immediately recommended Fishback when Robinson contacted him about needing a new vet.

"It required me to shift gears because I kept thinking of him as my schoolmate in the beginning," Robinson said with a laugh. "Our relationship deepened over the years. We have children the same age, and it seemed the older we got, the tighter we got. We clicked, and I loved the relationship. We always looked forward to when Dave came to the farm. It always brightened the day, and he told me he felt the same way."

Fishback shunned the limelight, preferring to operate in the background to make life better for those around him. Easter was particularly special to him, according to Robinson, and Fishback shared his joy by carrying a bushel basket of candy with him while doing his rounds on Easter Sunday.

"He would go around to all the people on the farms and deliver Easter candy, and he continued doing it after he retired," recalled Robinson.

The dedication to service Fishback felt for his own farm clients he would later extend to the larger Thoroughbred community during his tenure as president of Hagyard. 

"A lot of the services that emanated out of Hagyard were because Dr. Fishback and Dr. (Richard) Holder knew what was relevant and important to the clients. The things they invested in for the practice had value to the people they served," said Brown.

In addition to his accomplishments as a veterinarian, Fishback and his father found success as Thoroughbred breeders. Together they co-bred nine black-type stakes winners, which included grade 3 winner My Creed, grade 1-placed stakes winner Phone Caller, and multiple stakes winners Slew City and Crooner Slew. 

Visitation will be Sunday, July 21, from 5-8 p.m. at Blackburn and Ward Funeral Home in Versailles. The family will be holding a private funeral service, but a Celebration of Life will be held Monday, July 22, at Holly Hill Inn in Midway, Ky., from 2-5 p.m.