Asbury Equine Celebrates an Exciting Fall Lineup

October 21, 2021

Today, the Asbury University Equine Program welcomed dozens of guests for its Visit Event, giving prospective students and their families a glimpse of the exciting opportunities available in this popular area of study that includes Equine Studies and Equine Science.

This fall also marks the first year that Asbury equine students were selected to participate in the Thoroughbred Makeover
sponsored by the Thoroughbred Charities of America. The program culminated last week at the Kentucky Horse Park with a competition where the students and their retired racehorses showed off their new skills after two years of hard work. Many of the Thoroughbreds are retrained as ranch horses, hunter-jumpers, dressage, and trail horses, saving them from the neglection of post-racing retirement. Together with the four ex-racehorses they trained, Asbury students won six ribbons and every student placed in at least one category.

“This opportunity will expand the exposure of the Asbury Equine Department and it gives our students the opportunity to train at a much higher level,” said Jessica Hayes, Asbury hunter-jumper coach and advisor of the Thoroughbred Makeover. “It pushes the students to rise to a higher standard in a short period of time.”

Also at the Kentucky Horse Park from Nov. 16-21, Asbury’s Equine program will show off its world class police mounts for the 36th Annual National Mounted Police Colloquium. Asbury is the nation’s only student-led police horse training program and has placed highly trained horses around the U.S. and Canada.  

This year, Asbury has a record amount of 10 colts registered in the police classes for the Colloquium. The horses, along with students, will be trained in crowd and protest control and response as well as saddle fitting and riding tips. Nearly all of Asbury’s police colts are already sold to police departments. 

To become versed in all that the Equine Program has to offer, prospective students are partaking in an exciting immersion into the equine facility during the fall equine visit event, which includes a visit to the Asbury Equine Center where they will meet faculty and staff in the department, tour the farm and participate in scenic trail rides, as well as conclude the night with dinner and worship.

“We’re very excited about the fall visit,” said Director and Manager of the Equine Program, Harold Rainwater, “Everything from trail rides, pizza, to sunset worship. We’re excited to welcome new, prospective students.”