equine science

[banana head]

I know this has been discussed before but not recently. My daughter is a HS jr who likes to ride (but not compete). She is interested in majoring in equine sciences (not equine business), preferably in the west. Many people, including posters on this forum, have mixed feelings about an equine science major, given its narrow focus. Point taken, but this is her only academic interest right now.

She is interested in vet school and will attend the Tufts HS pre-vet program this summer. She is a B student and knows this will be an uphill battle (never say never, tho). It appears animal science/equine science programs usually include most pre-vet required courses as part of their curriculum.

I am posting to get the benefit of the combined wisdom/experience of this community re schools with good equine sciences programs (or animal sciences with equine option). We visited CSU and were suitably impressed, although it was a bit intimidating (400 students in the program). Montana State (the other MSU) looks interesting. Cal Poly SLO also, altho might be harder for OOS admission. Umass would be IS for us.

Your advice would be appreciated.

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[PAThbrd]

I have a BS in Equine Science from Midway College in Midway, Ky. My only advice would be to look into the programs carefully, especially the equine ones, and make sure they are actually science programs, and not farm management, riding instructor, etc. type programs. Look for BS degrees and not BAs. As far as majors though, you can major in literally anything and go to vet school, as long as you meet the admissions requirements and do well.

 

[NittanyKitty]

I know your daughter is interested in going out west, but I'm at Penn State currently, and we have an Equine Sciences minor. It works out pretty well because you can major in a rigorous Animal Biosciences major (or chemistry, biology, or whatever floats your boat) and then focus your interest with additional classes focusing on horses. Plus, you get an extra something written on your transcript for it. They might have something similar at schools closer to where she's looking.

 

[PlantersPunch]

Go to UMASS!

We have a GREAT animal science program here. (Our PhD in Animal Biotechnology and Biomedical Sciences is one of the top ten in the country) Our equine science is an associates degree but all animal science majors can take the equine classes, that's what I did. While the equine degree is more management/teaching orientated, if she were to be an ansci major and take the equine classes that were interesting to her, she would be all set to apply to vet school and still get that equine concentration she is looking for.

Here's a link http://www.umass.edu/vasci/

We also have a lot of other livestock (goats, sheep, cows, alpacas!) that are very available to the students. Each livestock species has a club that decides who to breed to whom and is in charge of the babies as well as everything else that goes on with managing a herd.

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me. I loved being a part of the program here and am going on to Tufts in the fall so obviously it worked for me.

P.S. The less debt the better for undergrad since vet school is so expensive.

 

[Rebeki]

I went to the University of Wisconsin at River Falls where they had a very good animal science program where you could have an equine emphasis.

You may want to look more closely at schools that have good agriculture/animal science programs. Sometimes they have good equine programs as an option for their animal science degree. Also, if vet school is a possibility, it could be beneficial to take the more broad animal science coursework versus strictly equine science. For instance, all of my production animal experience was from my animal science coursework.

 

[Angelo84]

Again not out west but the University of Connecticut has a good animal science program and you can focus in equine or just take the classes that interest you within the equine focus. Lots of hands on course work if you want to do it.