November 10, 2006

The American Quarter Horse Association announced that California State University, Fresno’s equine program is among 20 breeders it is honoring with its prestigious Legacy Awards. 

Fresno State was the only educational institution selected. To be eligible for the award, breeders must have registered at least one foal each year for the last 50 years.

“This is an incredible honor for our program and speaks to our university's commitment to quarter horses and equine education,” said Dr. Anne Rodiek, an animal science professor in Fresno State’s College of Agriculture Science and Technology and enterprise manager of the Quarter Horse Unit in the University Agricultural Laboratory (Fresno State Farm).

“We are the only educational institution honored in this issue – that means something,” she said.

An open house for the Fresno State Quarter Horse Unit will be held from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11. It is free and open to the public.

In the 1950s, Fresno State developed a 1,100-acre farm for the College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology. The Agricultural Foundation was formed to support farm activities including a horse unit. American Quarter Horses have been bred there ever since.

“The quarter horses on the Fresno State Farm have likely been better teachers of the true concepts of horse production and management than any classroom instruction,” Rodiek said.

Two stallions have had a long-term impact on the breeding program, she explained. Poco Husky by Poco Bueno and out of Wimpy’s Ojos by Wimpy (the first horse registered in the American Quarter Horse Association registry) stood at the farm from the 1970s until his death in 1988.

“Some of his daughters and granddaughters are still broodmares,” Rodiek said. “Pavo De Peppy arrived in 1983 and sired many modern quarter horses with excellent conformation, ability and disposition.”

The campus horse unit maintains a herd of about 80 registered quarter horses and the equine program is committed to continuation of the Quarter Horse breed, Rodiek said.

For more information, call Rodiek at 559.278.5623 or the Quarter Horse Unit at 559.278.4017.