VIRGINIA TECH ANNOUNCES NEW SPORTHORSE BREEDING INTERNSHIP
Submitted by: Dr. Rebecca K. Splan
Phone: 540-231-4740
Email Address: rsplan(at)vt.edu
Date Added: 2/20/2006
The Virginia Tech Equine Science Program is delighted to offer a Sporthorse Breeding Internship at the university and seeks potential applications for the Summer 2006 session.
While many young equestrians enter college with significant riding experience, few have had the opportunity to experience life on a breeding farm or work with young horses. Virginia Tech provides an outstanding environment where students can add skills to their resumes while learning scientific principles behind modern sporthorse breeding. The school houses the only warmblood breeding operation at a major university that has been fully incorporated into an undergraduate curriculum. A band of approximately 30 Hanoverian, Dutch Warmblood, Oldenburg and other warmblood mares call the campus home, as does resident stallion Baladin d’Oc, an FEI dressage competitor approved for breeding with ISR/Oldenburg NA and the North American Selle Francais Association.
Two summer internships will be offered, with one intern selected from among the Virginia Tech student body, and the other position open to any student currently enrolled in an undergraduate program at a college or university in the United States or Canada. Interns will be chosen on the basis of their written application, personal interview, academic record and demonstrated commitment to a career in the sport horse industry.
During their summer at Virginia Tech, interns will gain valuable hands-on experience with many aspects of an active breeding farm, including reproductive work and assisting veterinarians, foaling out mares, handling foals and training youngstock. As part of the internship, they will also prepare and present one of Virginia Tech’s young sporthorses in the breeding classes at Dressage at Lexington, held each July at the Virginia Horse Center. Finally, students will assist with the farm’s biomechanic research, which focuses on conformation and gait changes that occur in young, growing warmbloods.
Interns will also learn about different aspects of the sporthorse industry. Classroom sessions will focus on current topics in the sporthorse disciplines, sporthorse bloodlines, formulating breeding decisions, and marketing young sporthorses. Tours are planned to highly-regarded breeding farms in and around Virginia, and interns will have the opportunity to attend such local events as the Virginia Intermont CCI*, Dressage at Lexington and the $50,000 Grand Prix of Roanoke.
“We are very excited about offering this opportunity,” says Dr. Rebecca Splan, Assistant Professor of Equine Science and the internship’s coordinator. “It allows students to gain significant practical experience with mares and youngstock, and more fully prepares them for a career with sporthorses.” Susanne Hassler, Breeding Manager for the prestigious Hilltop Farm in Colora, Maryland, agrees. “These programs are critical to the development of our future sporthorse professionals in the country.” Dr. Splan hopes to raise at least $5000 for each of the two internships to cover wages, travel support and associated supplies for the Summer 2006 program.
If you are interested in applying for the Sporthorse Breeding Internship at Virginia Tech, or would like to make a financial contribution, please contact Dr. Rebecca K. Splan at 540-231-4740 or rsplan@vt.edu.
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