Sandy Collier, acclaimed horse trainer and 2008 national Hackamore Classic Open Champion, will conduct a horsemanship clinic at California State University, Fresno on Saturday, Jan. 31, as part of the annual Quarter Horse Unit Open House.

The free open house will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Quarter Horse Unit at Barstow and Price avenues, west of O’Neill Park. The clinic will be in the Animal Science Pavilion at Barstow and Woodrow, east of the park.

Spots in the clinic for participants are full but auditor seats are still available at $20 each, which includes lunch. Free parking is available in Lot P at Barstow and Maple avenues.

The open house will offer a tour of the unit’s facilities and viewing of horses for sale and stallions available for breeding in 2009. Guests can meet animal science students and learn about the B.S. degree in Animal Science with an emphasis in equine science and other services offered at Fresno State, said Dr. Anne Rodiek, an animal science professor and manager of the Quarter Horse Unit in Fresno State’s College of Agriculture Science and Technology.

Collier was the first and only female horse trainer to win the prestigious National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) World Champion Snaffle Bit Futurity. She also won an NRCHA World Champion Snaffle Bit Futurity Reserve Co-Championship in addition to being a regular finalist there. She has been a NRCHA Stallion Stakes Champion, an NRHA Limited Open Champion and an AQHA World Champion.

She has ranked among the year’s top five reined cow horse all-ages, all-divisions riders, and is ranked in the top 10 for NRCHA earnings. She was also a regular finalist in the cutting futurities when she showed cutters.

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

(University Communications student-intern Amanda Fine contributed to this copy.)

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