SECTION E
Training Horses
Pressure, Release
Means Please, Thank You
MICHELLE KUNJAPPU
Lancaster Farming Staff
ROCKSPRING (Centre
Co.) “The system builds
upon itself.”
Brian Egan, horse program
assistant, Penn State, ex
plained the method used to
train horses at the university
during 2002 Ag Progress
Days.
“The system is based on
pressure-and-release,” he said.
Physical and spatial pressure
Mini Horses
Enhance Vet
Tech Program
ALFRED, N.Y.—They say
good things come in small
packages. Folks in Alfred
State College’s veterinary
technology program know it’s
true.
The two-year program,
which enrolls 100 students,
was the recipient of a gift of
seven miniature horses, a loan
arrangement with a couple
from Conesus, N.Y.
Five of these miniature
horses arrived at the college
farm on Labor Day—Fizz, 7;
Angel, 2; Tiara, yearling; and
Diamond, 6 months. Two oth
ers, Sunny, 7, and Rhapsody,
8, joined the group on Nov. 2.
Copper, a 15-year-old gelding,
SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 2003
can be used to guide the
horses, according to Egan.
The first lesson is to teach a
horse to lead, which Egan
demonstrated in the Horse
Arena at Ag Progress Days
last August.
Egan used a 2-year-old
Quarter horse for his demon
stration. When a horse is ac
customed to the halter, he
said, the handler should try
(Turn to Page E 10)
“Fizz,” 7, will help Alfred State College students
learn skills that they will transfer to larger horses.
was purchased half by the vet campus group, bringing the
tech program and half by Pro- total number to seven minia
gram Instructor Kathleen . .
Bliss at the end of September.
Copper is also part of the on- * Turn to Page E4^
Brian Egan, horse program assistant, Penn State University, explains the
pressure-and-release system he uses to train horses. Photo by Michelle Kunjappu
High-Tech Help For Horses
At Equine Medical Center
MICHELLE KUNJAPPU
Lancaster Farming Staff
LEESBURG, Va. The
threefold mission of service,
teaching, and research may be
a tall order to fill, but at the
Marion duPont Scott Equine
Medical Center, the three tiers
of the mission seem to dovetail
nicely.
Fulfilling the service aspect,
between 2,300-2,400 patients
come to the Marion duPont
Scott Equine Medical Center
each year.
Teaching, another part of
the mission, is fulfilled with
the fourth year veterinary stu
dents from the Virginia-Mary
land Regional College of Vet
erinary Medicine who come to
study at the center each year.
Founded in 1984, the center
has served as a training
Dr. Nat White and an assistant perform an arthos
copy operation at the Marion duPont Scott Equine
Medical Center, Leesburg, Virginia, which treats be
tween 2,300-2,400 patients each year.
, Photo hyMipholto Kunjpppu ~ ,
ground for more than 450 vet
erinary students.
With the research projects
under way at the center, “we
approach the area that we
know we have the expertise to
help solve we’re not trying
to be all things to all horses,”
said director Dr. Fred Fregin.
Ongoing research on colic,
the leading cause of death
among horses, is an example.
“We first define the prob
lem, then find the best people
put together to work on that
problem.”
Facilities
Marion duPont Scott, see
ing the need for an equine
hospital in Virginia, made a
pledge in 1981 of $4 million to
fund the center’s construction.
(Turn to Page E 2)