POMONA — 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.
• RELATED STORY: Sunday horse shows a tradition at Cal Poly Pomona
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.
By City News Service
No comments:
Post a Comment