Cal Poly Pomona is about to become an Arabian horse maternity ward, with 15 mares expected to deliver their newborns on campus in the coming weeks as awe-struck students help out.
“It’s an exciting time, no matter how many times you experience it,” Cal Poly Pomona farm manager Kate Smith told City News Service. “When students experience it for the first time or the first few times, they’re kind of in awe. They’re usually very quiet and take it all in.”
The first foal is expected to be born around Feb. 9, and the others will make their appearances into the world in the following few months, according to Smith.
It’s all part of the Cal Poly Pomona W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center.
The mares at the center all can be traced back to the original Arabian mare brought to the ranch in 1926 by cereal magnate W.K. Kellogg.
Kellogg deeded the ranch to the state in 1932, on the agreement that horse breeding would remain a function of the land.
The 35-acre site contains five barns that house the 90-plus Arabian horses and about 40 others stabled there by private owners.
About 80 Cal Poly students are participating this foaling season, Smith said. That means at least four students assigned to taking care of individual pregnant mares will be on hand when each mare gives birth, with Smith supervising.
“We try to accommodate anybody who wants to do it,” she said.
Another birth is expected by the end of this month. Four are due in March, six in April and the rest by the third week in May.
The birth of foals is closed to the public.
“It would become too crowded and noisy if we allowed people to watch,” Smith said. “We need to keep (mares) calm.”
The students who watch each horse get to name the foal, Smith said.
It takes about 11 months from fertilization to birth of an Arabian foal. Breeding season will start sometime next month and continue through late June, according to Smith.
Most of the mares born during foaling season remain on the ranch, but some are sold, as are a number of stallions and geldings each year.
Prices range from about $1,500 to a $75,000 price tag for one particularly well-bred mare, Smith said.
Arabians are a popular breed because of their beauty, intelligence, versatility as a show horse and overall gentle nature, she said.
About 200 students in all are involved with the center, including five who live there during the school year.
“Many of the freshmen who come here have never handled a horse or saddled one, but they learn quickly,” said Smith, a 2005 Cal Poly graduate who has been involved with the center since 2002. “We have students working on breeding farms and we have had students that became (veterinarians). I really like working with the students and the horses and watching both of them grow,” she said.
Student Jenna Faust said the program has been rewarding.
“I’ve learned a lot,” said Faust, 21. “I didn’t know anything about this before I got here. You get to start from the beginning. Also, it’s a cool way to bring the campus together. You need the support of everybody to get things done.”
— City News Service