Equestrian Emphasis
Learning links students,
horses and researchers in UMaine's new Equine Program
About the Photo:
Sarah Guilmain is among the UMaine equestrians who would benefit
from an indoor, multi-purpose arena at the Witter Center. With an
arena, horse training and exercise can continue in the winter. Such
a facility is integral to the development of an undergraduate degree
program in equine business management.
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Reproduction
Research
It may be a compliment when a physician tells a patient he is
healthy as a horse, but for veterinarians and horse breeders, the
old adage can belie the truth when it comes to equine reproduction.
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Kiera Finucane drove four and a half
days from her New Mexico home to Maine to go to college, a cross-country
trek that would have been shorter except that Louie had to come along.
"I didn't have any relatives in Maine and knew if I was going, Louie
also had to make the move," says Finucane. "I've had him since he was
8."
Finucane planned her trip to the University of Maine using a "stable
directory" so that her 13-year-old Arabian gelding could spend nights in
barns along the route rather than in a trailer. She is among a small but
growing number of students attracted to and involved in UMaine's Equine
Program.
"It has had a big impact on my involvement in the university community,"
says Finucane, a double major in animal science and biology who will
apply to veterinary school starting this October. "It has made UMaine a
tremendous experience for me."
UMaine's horse program is built on a foundation of cutting-edge
biomedical research, concern for animal welfare, and active involvement
of students and Maine's equestrian community. Two of the top researchers
in equine reproduction and infertility UMaine faculty members and
veterinarians Dr. Robert Causey and Dr. Jim Weber lead the program.
Students with interests in horses, including some like Finucane who
board their mares at UMaine, work side by side with the researchers.
They also participate in a barn cooperative at the J.F. Witter Teaching
and Research Center near campus, where the focus is on a scientific
approach to equine management. UMaine now offers an academic minor in
equine studies, and a major concentration in equine business management,
directed by associate professor Jim Leiby in the Department of Resource
Economics and Policy.
With support from Maine's harness racing industry, some horses retired
from the track are donated to the university, where the standardbreds
are retrained for pleasure use. Students and professional trainers
prepare retired racehorses, as well as foals, for new lives in the
community.
"The value of our program is that anyone from any major can enroll in
the minor in equine studies," says Causey. "Horses cut across all
disciplines, from biology and medicine to business and marketing,
athletics and gymnastics, tourism, recreation and land use, education
and social work.
"With the program, we also provide graduate education opportunities in
both the biomedical and veterinary sciences. Most recently, we received
a USDA grant to help develop a vaccine to control reproductive
infections in horses."
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Sarah Guilmain is among the UMaine equestrians who would benefit
from an indoor, multi-purpose arena at the Witter Center. With an
arena, horse training and exercise can continue in the winter. Such
a facility is integral to the development of an undergraduate degree
program in equine business management. Guilmain, a graduate student
in animal and veterinary sciences, works with Dr. Jim Weber and a
medical researcher at Eastern Maine Medical Center to study the
effects of hypothyroidism during pregnancy on fetal nervous system
development in mice.
Photo by Monty Rand
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The Witter Center, part of the Maine
Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station, is a 400-acre working farm
near the Orono campus. Seven years ago, it underwent a transformation.
What had been exclusively a research facility now includes a center for
student-focused learning. In addition to research, animal science
faculty and nearly 300 students of many academic disciplines are
involved in classes at Witter, including several who participate in the
farm's management through the horse cooperative and UMADCOWS (UMaine
Applied Dairy Cooperative of Working Students).
Today, the self-sustaining equine management cooperative is home to 16
horses donated to UMaine and up to 18 boarded by students. Members of
the co-op both those boarding horses and those with an interest in
equines each undertake up to 20 hours of chores weekly, from 5:30
a.m.10 p.m.
"Witter has an amazing group of dedicated people, all here for the
common good of the animals," says Finucane, who, like some of her peers,
also became interested in Witter's dairy herd, last year serving as
student advisor for UMADCOWS. "You learn about dealing with people and
getting everyone to work together. It's a place where everybody knows
your name our own version of Cheers.'"
As of March, four prospective students entering UMaine this fall had
already filled out applications to be part of the co-op. Rarely a day
goes by that Witter livestock manager Marcy Guillette doesn't get at
least one inquiry from a student hoping to participate.
"We have more students with more knowledge and interest in horses than
ever before, including more beginners and students for whom working with
horses has been a life-long dream," says Guillette.
"Several of our students are working at well-respected horse facilities
in New England; others have continued to graduate or veterinary school."
In 1998, an 18-year-old standardbred stallion named Pedrine became the
first retired harness racehorse to be donated to the University of
Maine. The donation was facilitated by the U.S. Trotting Association and
the Standardbred Pleasure Horse Organization.
Standardbreds are considered intelligent, versatile, easy-going trotting
horses. Until recently, the breed was thought to be limited largely to
racing, so that horses that came off the track faced uncertain futures.
At UMaine, retired racehorses receive about two years of retraining for
pleasure use. Whether the horses are trained in dressage, jumping or
driving depends on the animal. To date, six retired racehorses have been
retrained at UMaine and sold to good homes, with the proceeds returning
to the program.
To support the teaching and research, retired racehorses donated to the
university must be reproductively and physically sound mares, usually
ages 310. Twice weekly, certified horse trainer Jan Hartwell comes to
Witter to supervise the retraining program. Working closely with her is
student trainer Sarah Marriner, a fourth-year resource economics major
specializing in equine business management. Marriner, who started riding
at age 3, has learned from some of the best professional horse trainers
in Maine. At Witter, she trains horses and mentors her peers.
The Maine Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association, and members of
the Downeast Harness Horsemen's Association, offer internships. Students
also work with UMaine alumna Valerie Grondin, who for the fifth season
is training a university-owned horse at Bangor Raceway.
Grondin first worked with a 4-year-old standardbred named Venus of Milo
that was donated in 1998 by the late Tom Kole, former executive director
of the Maine Harness Racing Promotion Board. Prize money that Venus won
in two seasons covered training costs and supported the UMaine Equine
Program.
Venus is now in the retraining program at Witter. The university
continues to have a presence at the track in the form of One Vine Lady,
a standardbred purchased for the program in 2001 with the help of
Maine's Harness Racing Board. As an ambassador for UMaine's Equine
Program, One Vine Lady, like Venus before her, has quite a following.
"The support of the local equine industry has made this program
possible," says Causey. "The donation of retired racehorses, the support
of industry leaders, and the welcome for UMaine students at local equine
facilities have given our students an array of choices as they include
horses in their education."
by Margaret Nagle
July-August, 2003
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