ST. MARY-OF-THE-WOODS, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — The Equine Studies Department at St. Mary-of-the-Woods has more than doubled in the past few years.
“When I first got here two and a half years ago we had 17 students,” Dr. Ed Ferguson, Equine Studies Department Chair, said. “This fall we had 40 (students).”
The horse population has grown as well, with the school’s first artificial insemination baby being born this spring to a mare named Rue, who the WTWO team met last year during a story on the program.
Students helped produce Rue’s foal, nicknamed “Hottie”, and Ferguson said foaling the baby was a group effort.
“We had to pull her out of her mother, which is not normal, but she’s such a big baby,” Ferguson said. “Luckily, Mom was fine, the baby was fine.”
Senior Katie Wendorf recounted the experience of helping to birth Hottie, saying it was a great learning opportunity.
“Rue was having some struggles because she (Hottie) is a little bit bigger,” Wendorf said. “Dr. Ed and I manually pulled her out and everything and it was really fascinating. That was my first time being able to help manually with a birth, so that was a really cool hands-on experience.”
Wendorf is planning to continue her education at SMWC in the fall as a graduate student in the equine studies program, and said the hands-on learning is one reason why she wants to stay on campus and continue advancing her education as a Pomerory.
The college has also recently received some technology upgrades to help with the breeding management program and the ultrasounds that students are conducting on a regular basis.
“In classes and in labs, we’re getting to ultrasound, palpate, kind of figure out certain things going on in our mares and that’s really great,” Wendorf said.
SMWC is also dedicated to helping students advance their equestrian skills, and many students have learned how to ride during their time on campus. Wendorf said these experiences will only make her, and her classmates, more prepared for their careers.
“In the equine industry, it’s always really great to be well-rounded,” Wendorf said. “So as well as the sciences, I know how to ride, train, everything like that so that’s super cool.”
For Rue’s owner, sophomore Kyley Pelfrey, the chance to take care of her own horse, and now that horse’s baby, is another plus of getting her education at SMWC.
“It’s great having her here being her owner and being able to see her every day and make sure she’s being take care of properly every day,” Pelfrey said. “Also for Hottie, I get to see her grow in each stage she goes through, as well as being able to understand how Hottie’s brain is going to work for her future training as well as her future show prospects.”
Pelfrey said that while students have their individual care horses that they tend to and bond with on a daily basis, the entire group is constantly pitching in to help with each horse.
“These horses are basically like our pets,” Pelfrey said. “We get to take care of them, and we love it, and they love it.”
Sophomore Taylor Long said she enjoys going to a smaller school to learn equine studies because of the opportunity to be part of every step in the breeding process.
“It does bring the full circle feel,” Long said. “Getting to see all the things on the ultrasound and learning about the artificial insemination and breeding the mares, and then getting to see the baby and learning how you should take caer of it for the first several weeks of its life and watching it grow.”
Ferguson said there are plans underway for new programming within the department, with the creation of a two year online Racetrack Management Associate’s Degree, with a professor coming on board who has decades of racetrack administration experience.
Ferguson said no matter how big the program gets, each student will always continue to get the same level of experience that prepares them for their next step.
“You go to big schools and all you do is teach in a classroom,” Ferguson said. “You may have a lab or two, but to be able to come out here and do this and work with students and see that this is their passion, they really want to work with horses, and to know we’re a pathway for them to achieve that dream, I can’t tell you how rewarding it is to help young people reach their goals.”
