Virginia Tech Equine Program Partners with
Southern States Cooperative to Strive For Success
The Virginia Tech equine program is well on its way to becoming one of the top equine schools in the nation.
“Virginia Tech has everything students need to prepare them for careers in the equine industry. Our job is to produce highly qualified graduates to become part of the equine industry, and we are doing just that,” says Associate Professor Dr. Rebecca Splan.
Of the 450 students in the Animal and Poultry Science Department at Virginia Tech, 80% have an equine emphasis. The program has had its challenge with space and resource limitations, but its partnership with Southern States Cooperative has catapulted the program to the next level. “Amazing results are being achieved with limited resources,” Splan said. “We are making great strides with the assistance of Southern States, specifically their horse feeds,” she said.
Part of the program’s philosophy is teaching desire to excel. “We are all passionate about what we do,” Splan said. The faculty supports teaching the students to the industry’s top standards. Giving the students the opportunity to learn hands-on skills in equine health and nutrition, showmanship, different facets of the equine industry and international networking are all program priorities.
The Virginia Tech horse farms exclusively use Southern States feeds. “We love the quality of the feed,” Splan said. “As last year’s hay quality deteriorated, the Southern States horse feed helped our horses make it through the winter. The feeds are unique to Southern States and really do the job for us,” Splan said.
Specific target areas for the Virginia Tech equine program are the riding and breeding programs. Currently the riding program includes three intercollegiate teams, in hunter-jumper, dressage and western classes. Each team competes in four shows per semester. The teams compete on a regional and national level.
Due to the popularity of Virginia Tech’s riding program, instructor Teresa McDonald was running out of hours in the day to teach. Thankfully, Virginia Tech was able to procure Sherri Willis West as an assistant coach for the riding teams. Sherri was awarded the 2008 Virginia Tech Recreational Sports Club Coach of the Year.
The Virginia Tech equine breeding program focuses on sport horses and although the breeding program is newly established, horses bred by the university have received numerous championship honors and horse of the year titles nationwide. In 2005, Virginia Tech produced more Premium Foals and Inspection Site Champions with the International Sport Horse Registry and Oldenburg Registry of North America than any other breeder in the United States. In 2007, the program bred the highest-scoring colt in the North American inspection tour.
Virginia Tech is the only land grant university to fully incorporate a sport horse breeding program into its undergraduate animal science curriculum. Approximately 20 foals are born at Virginia Tech each spring, and students have the opportunity to be involved in all aspects of breeding and training the horses.
“The sky is the limit. We have something special here and students want to be a part of it,” Splan concluded.
