swmmr984

Looking for a college with equine studies for my niece. got any suggestions?
she's particularly interested in showing saddlebred (gaited horses)

beachy

Take a look at Lake Erie College, a small LAC in Painesville, OH - east of Cleveland along the lake.

mezzomom

I'm not a horse person, so I can't speak personally about these programs, but check out Otterbein College (OH) and Goucher (MD).

csshsm

If your niece is into Saddlebreds, she probably already knows about William Woods in Missouri. I think it may be one of the only Saddlebred programs still around. Stephens College had one for years, but I think I heard they cut out the Saddlebreds--you should doublecheck this because I may be wrong.
Morehead College in Kentucky shows at Saddlebred shows, but I do not know about their equine program. Most of the colleges that still have equine programs have hunter/jumper and western. An example is Midway College in Kentucky. Students there are able to still show Saddlebreds because the school is very near Lexington.

musicalthtrmom

Try Michigan State University.

beginning

Sweet Briar is known for Equine Studies, and UConn's Ratcliffe-Hicks also has a really good program. I second Lake Erie.

Some other schools that have it are Maryland, North Dakota State, UMass, Ohio State, and Northwest College. (Those are from Google, so I have no clue how good they are.)

U.S. News lists the following:

Averett University
Centenary College
Johnson and Wales University
Lake Erie College
Midway College
Mount Ida College
North Dakota State University
Otterbein College
Rocky Mountain College
Salem International University
St. Mary-of-the-Woods College
Truman State University
University of Findlay
Virginia Intermont College
West Texas A&M University
Wilson College

I would really look at Sweet Briar. Their riding program is arguably the best in the country, and the facilities are unsurpassed: http://www.sbc.edu/riding/

icemaker

Swmmr –

I did a quick search on the collegeboard.com site for 4-year colleges with equine studies programs and equestrian extra-curricular opportunities. It gave me the following list of schools:
Averett University, Danville, VA
Cazenovia College, Cazenovia, NY
Centenary College, Hackettstown, NJ
Delaware Valley College, Doylestown, PA
Johnson & Wales University, Providence, RI
Lake Erie College, Painesville, OH
Midway College, Midway, KY
Mount Ida College, Newton, MA
Otterbein College, Westerville, OH

Post University, Waterbury, CT
St. Andrews Presbyterian College, Laurinburg, NC
St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, St. Mary-of-the-Woods, IN
Stephens College, Columbia, MO
Sterling College, Craftsbury Common, VT
Truman State University, Kirksville, MO
University of Findlay, Findlay, OH
University of Maine, Orono, ME
University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA
University of Minnesota: Crookston, Crookston, MN
Virginia Intermont College, Bristol, VA
West Texas A&M University, Canyon, TX
William Woods University, Fulton, MO
Wilmington College, Wilmington, OH
Wilson College, Chambersburg, PA
As you can tell from the list, most of these institutions are relatively small and (dare I say it) not particularly well known or discussed on these boards. Out of this list, I know a little bit about Truman State, St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Sterling, St. Andrews Presbyterian, and Stephens. Truman is a highly selective (probably the most selective school on this list) well thought of public liberal arts college. St. Mary-of-the-Woods is a women’s only college located in Terre Haute, Indiana. My understanding is that St. Mary maintains a strong Catholic feel. Sterling is very interesting. It is probably the smallest accredited school in the country – less than 100 students. It is tucked away up in the Northeast Kingdom area of Vermont, focuses almost exclusively on environmental education, and requires all students to work on campus. Interesting little school that I think would be a very good fit for the right student. St. Andrews, I believe, is profiled in Loren Pope’s book, Colleges That Change Lives. It seems to be a place that really focuses on teaching. I also hear that the campus is supposed to be beautiful. Stephens is another all-woman’s college. My wife’s cousin spent a year or two at Stephens and has nothing but good things to say about the teaching and the equestrian program. Unfortunately, she was forced to transfer because of family money issues. Otherwise, she definitely would have stayed at Stephens.
Good luck. Hopefully this is a good starting point.

beginning

Post University is terrible -- don't bother. Johnson & Wales also isn't worth much in my book.

One thing I've learned about doing searches by major is that they are never, ever comprehensive. There are several schools some of us have listed that aren't on the College Board list. That gives some great additions, though.

swmmr984

Thanks for all your help--I knew that College Borad should have it just couldn't figure out how to get it.

northeastmom

Rutgers and St. Andrews

carolyn

There are a few larger universities with excellent Equine Science majors.

Colorado State :
http://www.visit.colostate.edu/index...gram_code=AN02

University of Maryland:
http://www.equinestudies.umd.edu/faculty/

Ohio State U http://horse.osu.edu/equine/equine_minor.html

North Dakota State U

SUNY Cobleskill

This article is also useful - describes different types of education for equine science and career opportunities: http://equisearch.com/education/eqdegree3272/

carolyn

Forgot to mention the University of Kentucky. Their agricultural school has a huge equine science center. Her undergraduate major would be in animal science but the opportunities for internships and research are terrific. http://www.uky.edu/Ag/AnimalSciences.../overview.html but also do a search for "equine science" at www.uky.edu

In fact, I'd suggest she broaden her search from "equine science" to "animal science at a school with a strong equine science focus." For example, the University of Vermont also has an animal science major with a concentration in equine management: http://www.uvm.edu/cals/?Page=closerlook/asci.html

Another, very strong option, would be Cal Poly San Luis Obispo which has its own breeding facility and allows animal science majors to concentrate in equine science: http://animalscience.calpoly.edu/are..._overview.html Purdue also has a strong program: http://www.ansc.purdue.edu/ugrad/pro...Horseflyer.pdf

I really think looking for animal science programs first may be the way to go --- a larger unviersity will offer opportunities and facilities in this particular area that small colleges may not be able to match.

carolyn

Since I mentioned animal sciences, thought I'd list a few other schools with strong animal science programs that she can research to see what they offer in terms of equine sciences:
Rutgers, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Pennsylvania State, Texas A&M, Virginia Polytech, U of Wyoming, U of Tennsess, U of New Hampshire, U of Nevada (Reno), U of Montana, U of Idaho, Cornell, Clemson, University of California-Davis.

csshsm

I saw an ad today for the Equine Scholars Program at Georgetown College. It says that the program combines a liberal arts education with equine interests, in partnership with the Kentucky Horse Park. The rider in the picture is hunter/jumper, but the advertisement is in a program for a saddlebred show. They have a website, so you may want to check this school out too.

meliora16

Wow! This has been soooo helpful...I am searching frantically for schools with this major and thought I was stuck with just a handful...
I'll be up all night looking at all these, now!
~Emily