Story and Photographs by Ryan T. Bell
An emerging equine-science program has revitalized Montana State Universtiy’s college of agriculture.
When Montana State University was founded in 1893, horse-drawn wagons and saddle horses were the primary sources of transportation on campus. But the automobile age of the 1900s saw equines relegated off the streets, as “horsepower” came to refer to a combustion engine’s force. Today, horse power has returned to MSU’s campus in the form of an Equine Science program that is attracting a record number of students and helping to propel MSU’s College of Agriculture into the 21st Century.
MSU used to be known in horse circles as home of the College National Finals Rodeo. But after 25 years of hosting the event, Bozeman opted out in 1997. Critics were surprised that a public university would let a money-earning event like the Finals leave town. But a large portion of those earnings came via sponsorship from the tobacco industry. Then-President Michael Malone worried that MSU was sending the wrong message to its students, so he sent the Finals packing. Arguably, that decision set the stage for the return of Equus Caballus to MSU’s campus – the horse in the academic sense, rather than sporting.
In the years after the Finals’ departure, the College of Agriculture stepped up to bolster its equine reputation. The problem was, student enrollment was stagnant. The numbers weren’t exactly slumping, but they weren’t growing either. Department heads asked existing and prospective students what they were interested in studying that the College didn’t already offer. Resoundingly, they said an Equine Science degree.
“Previously, students wanting a horse-related education enrolled in either the Animal or Range Science programs,” says Dr. Bret Olson, Head of the Animal and Range Sciences Department.
The College of Agriculture offered its first-ever Equine Science degree in 2002. The program was immediately successful, garnering 23 percent of undergraduate enrollment. That number has increased every year since, culminating with the class of 2008-09, when the Equine Science program constituted one-third of the College of Agriculture’s student body – the largest of any degree.
“The Equine Science program reinvigorated the College of Agriculture,” Dr. Olson says.
An Equine Science program doesn’t appear out of thin air. MSU had been laying a foundation for thirty years, even if that wasn’t the intention at the time.
The first-ever “horse science” class (as equine science used to be called) was taught in 1969 by a newly-hired professor named Sandy Gagnon. He would teach the class for the next forty years, up until his recent retirement in September 2009. Gagnon also played an integral role in getting horse-related research projects into the field. One project traveled to North Dakota to study feral horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and another packed into the Montana backcountry to study the effects of packhorse grazing on timberline meadows.
In addition to professor Gagnon’s work, Bozeman launched the MSU Horseshoeing School in 1970. Under the tutelage of renowned farrier Tom Wolfe, the trade school produced hundreds of farriers over the course of four decades.
These components made MSU a respectable, if not complete, horse institution. The next logical step was to create an Equine Science program. To jumpstart the fledgling effort, MSU needed an individual that embodied the myriad skills required of an equine professional. They hired Dr. Shannon Moreaux, DVM, whose ample résumé included equine medicine, horseshoeing, breeding, training, and even a stint as a horse jockey.
“Our goal since the beginning has been to produce graduates that are well qualified to get a job in the equine industry,” Dr. Moreaux says. “The best way to accomplish that is through science-based learning, and hands-on experience.”
“We’re proud of the four-year equestrian science degree,” says Dr. Geoffrey Gamble, MSU’s current President. “The program is a great example of MSU’s commitment to hands-on education as students learn and take part in activities ranging from shoeing a horse to managing land and facilities – all with the spectacular Rocky Mountains for a classroom.”
Cody O’Donnell, a senior in Equine Science, is an example of the caliber of student MSU attracts. He is the son of Tim and Mary O’Donnell, owners of O’Donnell Quarter Horses in Cardwell, Montana. Cody aspires to help run the family business, and he knows that a college education will bring value to the O’Donnell’s breeding operation.
“Dr. Moreaux brings real experiences from his everyday life as a veterinarian into the classroom,” Cody says. “He has a lot to teach about conformation, genetics, and reproduction; subjects that directly affect our family’s business.”
Tim O’Donnell, Cody’s father, is pleased with his son’s decision.
“In this industry, a breeder needs to have a competitive edge to be successful,” Tim O’Donnell says. “That’s what Cody’s education will do for us.”
In addition to academics, students are drawn to MSU by the beauty of southwest Montana’s Gallatin Valley.
“It’s the ‘Montana factor’,” says Andi Shockley, MSU’s Equitation Manager. “Students watch a movie like The Horse Whisperer and see that it was filmed in Bozeman. They fall in love with Montana and enroll at MSU to attend college. Naturally, they want to ride a horse while they’re here, no matter what their field of study.”
Students from agriculture, to engineering, to architecture meld together at the Bob Miller Stock Pavilion. The facility is abuzz with a day-long schedule that includes English equitation, western riding, colt starting, and even a driving class featuring a wagon team of Belgian draft horses. In addition to hosting classes, the Pavilion is a place where MSU students can board their private horses, and make use of the riding facilities whenever it’s not booked for a class.
“Going to the Pavilion is a great part of the day,” Cody O’Donnell says. He volunteers as a Teacher Assistant for Andi Shockley’s Western Equitation class. He also makes use of the riding arena on his own time, training a pair of O’Donnell Quarter Horses he brought with him to school. “When you see students from other degree programs at the Pavilion, it makes you realize that horses are a big part of why any student comes to MSU.”
The career of an MSU student can span undergraduate and graduate-level work. Two MSU students, Andi Shockley and Jyme Peterson, are examples of what an MSU student can achieve.
Andi Shockley graduated from MSU in 1998 with an undergraduate degree in Biotechnology. (“I would’ve majored in Equine Science if it were available then,” Shockley says.) Her goal was to become an equine researcher. But while completing her degree, Shockley discovered that her true talent was teaching.
“I’m too much of a people person to be stuck in a lab by myself all day,” she says.
Shockley entered MSU’s Masters of Agricultural Education program. When she graduated in 2002, the nascent Equine Science program was hiring a full-time Equitation Manager. Shockley applied and landed the job.
“Teaching equitation and managing the Bob Miller Stock Pavilion enables me to be around people and horses at the same time,” she says. “And I live in my home state of Montana. It’s the best of all worlds.”
Masters candidate Jyme Peterson came to MSU as a transfer student from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M in 2005. Her rodeo coach in Oklahoma, Mike True, had taken a position with the MSU Bobcat Rodeo Team, and he recruited Peterson to go north.
“I was excited to enroll at MSU because the Equine Science degree is such a great program,” Jyme Peterson says.
Like Shockley, Peterson rolled her undergraduate education forward into a Masters program. As part of her studies, Peterson is conducting research on Psyllium, a plant used to treat diabetes in humans, and its effects on horses with laminitis. Her research has won accolades from the Equine Science Society and the American Society of Animal Science.
“Jyme Peterson’s project has gained MSU national attention,” Dr. Moreaux says. “We’ve had alumni contact us saying that they wished MSU was conducting that level of research when they were here.”
As if Peterson’s school work isn’t enough, she has stepped into the role of assistant coach on Mike True’s Bobcat Rodeo Team.
“There are Freshmen and Sophomores on the team that I coached at MSU community rodeo clinics, back when they were in high school,” Peterson says. “Watching them make the MSU team and coaching them at the college level has been an incredible experience. Plus, spending seven years working with a coach like Mike True, has been an honor.”
Andi Shockley and Jyme Peterson are proof that Equine Science is providing an academic thrust in MSU’s College of Agriculture.
One measurement of a University’s success is its position within the local community. If Bozeman resident Heidi McLoughlin is a fair indication, then MSU’s Equine Science program is integral to the equestrian health of the region. McLoughlin donated a $50,000 scholarship endowment as a memorial to her late husband, Michael J. McLoughlin. The fund awards two $1,000 scholarships, one each to a junior and senior who are pursuing Equine Science at MSU.
The Bozeman community contributes in other ways as well. The Equine Boosters of MSU conduct the annual Donate a Horse Program. They contact area breeders to donate young horses for use in the Equine Science department’s Colt Starting Class. Fifteen students work under the supervision of horse trainer Jess Holloway to break and train the colts during the academic year. In the spring, the horses are auctioned at MSU’s Top of the West Ranch Horse Sale. It’s a win-win situation. The students get hands-on experience, the colts are well trained, and a portion of the proceeds are invested back into the program.
“They put on a really good sale,” says Tim O’Donnell, whose son Cody took part in the 2008 colt starting class. “As a breeder, I notice that MSU has high quality horses and Jess Holloway does a great job teaching the kids to train the colts. The MSU show is a good reflection of the quality of horses that Montana has to offer.”
Most symbolic of the community’s support is the construction of the Animal Biosciences Building. The three-story, 40,000 square-foot building is scheduled to be open for the Fall 2010 semester. The second floor will be home of the Equine Science program, featuring state-of-the-art teaching and research facilities. Perhaps most impressive, however, is the fact that seventy-five percent of the project’s $15.7 million funding has been donated by private individuals and businesses that believe MSU’s role in Animal Science is critical to the future. Considering the role Equine Science has played in revitalizing the College of Agriculture, it’s fair to think of the building as the house that horses built.
