CSU for equine?

[bluesails]

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Just a bit confused.
I've been told by two equine vets that Colorado State is a great place to pursue equine veterinary medicine.
I've also noticed that many, many equine veterinary medicine textbooks have almost half their contributors graduating from CSU (not really an accurate way to judge, but just a point of interest).

However, I've been searching the forums and found a thread on "what are the best equine schools" where a few people complained very strongly about doing it at CSU.

Not trying to start arguments - I just want to hear different points of view. Equine medicine at CSU? Thoughts?

 

[Minnerbelle]

Can't comment much because I am sooooo not a horse person, and have no idea what a good equine vet program is vs. a bad one... But, at least the one thread I remember where someone was vehemently against CSU for equine, it was someone who did their pre-vet at CSU and had a chip on his/her shoulders... so take that with a grain of salt.

I highly doubt there's any vet schools out there with a decent equine caseload that wouldn't be good at what they teach though. I mean, does anyone know of any schools with a respectable caseload that absolutely sucks? And I don't mean personal grudges, or things that just didn't work for you... but known across the board to be bad?

I would say apply first and worry about these things later! The list will be much easier to narrow down once you're only looking at schools you've been accepted to. My thought though, is that unless you're gunning to be a vet for the kentucky derby and NEED particular connections or something like that, it shouldn't really matter.

 

[PetPony]

I'd love to be a vet for those races... *dream* lol Maybe in a few years. Or life times..

 

[EveyG]

I feel like I have something to say here because I volunteered at CSU's Equine Orthopaedic Research Center for about 4 years.
1) There are students at CSU that are a bit snobbish in the Equine program. I started off as an equine science major and despised the people I was in class with so much that I changed my major. This may be why one of the other posters on here did not like the equine program, but I can only speculate. This is in undergrad too, so people had a lot of maturing to do still.
2) With that being said, the equine research programs, including the orthopaedic research center and reproduction center, are phenomenal. You have some of the best equine practitioners teaching you and they are available when you need them. I have had them teach me in class and I can't complain. The faculty are very nice and approchable.
3) The VTH facilities aren't impressive because they are pretty old, but they are still functional, and see quite a heavy caseload. The equine orthopaedic research center is pretty new, and has state of the art equipment, and the repro labs at the north campus are newer as well.
4) If you are looking for a good Equine program, I would say that CSU will definitely give you a solid education. However, out of state tuition is INSANE, so keep that in mind when you are looking. Other schools such as Kentucky, Texas, Cornell, Louisiana, and Ohio I have been told have good equine programs.
Wherever you decide to go, good luck on your journey

 

[PetPony]

Kentucky? I thought they don't have a vet school.. just a contract with some schools like Auburn I think. I may be wrong though..

 

[Angelus9]

Other schools such as Kentucky, Texas, Cornell, Louisiana, and Ohio I have been told have good equine programs.
Wherever you decide to go, good luck on your journey

Doesn't CSU also have a renowned oncology program?

As for equine, I'd put UPenn at the top of the list.

 

[Hotfillyky]

Kentucky? I thought they don't have a vet school.. just a contract with some schools like Auburn I think. I may be wrong though..

You are correct! Kentucky contracts with Tuskegee and Auburn.

 

[EveyG]

You are correct! Kentucky contracts with Tuskegee and Auburn.

My bad. When I was looking into equine science programs in undergrad, Kentucky was mentioned to me.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Here at TAMU we have a lot of horse stuff...admittedly, I'm on the pathology end so all I can judge it how many biopsies from horses we get and how many horses in necropsy we get, but considering the high numbers of both, I'm say a lot. We have an entire ICU dedicated specifically to equine patients in addition to the extensive equine wards, which always seem full.

 

[TheCattleman]

I'll say a bit from my experiences at CSU and taking their Equine courses, that are similar to EveyG's:

-The basic basic Equine classes are a waste of time, and are only for people who have never been around horses anytime in their lives. However, the classes beyond those are great, and well worth taking. The faculty for Equine Sciences are kind, caring, and will make sure you succeed in the program. Which leads me to my next comment:

-CSU's whole Ag program is awesome, and the staff/faculty/professors are the best you are going to get out of any area of study. You can see the difference once you take classes in another area of study, and then take Ag courses, the people are just different...they care about your ideas and career paths, work with you to the best of their abilities and are on top of things with providing internship/job opportunities as well.

-However...the Equine Science students (namely females, sorry, not to offend, but the majority are female) are very "clique"-ish and hold their noses in the air. They like to stay in their own little groups, and are stand-offish towards new people to the program or people they think might be inferior riders, trainers, etc. This is especially true with the rodeo team.

-That last comment aside, the research they do in the Equine field is some of the best found anywhere. Their Equine Repro Center has the LATEST technology, and is known throughout the equine industry; many, many famous/well-known horses are sent there, for research, breeding, genetics research, etc. There were even some there sent from other countries (I toured the place and one of my classes had a lab there with the person in charge). They are also doing a lot of work/research currently with Equine Acupuncture; I remember watching one of those seminars and it was very interesting.

-The VTH they have also has the latest technology, and is very well known throughout the community. As someone else mentioned, they do in fact do a LOAD of work and research with Oncology (learned this touring the VTH on their "Open House" day). However, do not expect to be able to work/intern at the VTH. The VTH is 100% filled to capacity with working students and interns/volunteers, and unless someone retires, quits, or gets fired, your chances of being able to do work there for anything is slim to none. It is also the same way with vet clinics around the town; there are as many small animal and equine vet clinics as there are Starbucks there, but they are all filled with student works/volunteers/interns. If you put 110% effort into looking everyday for open positions, you will probably be able to find something eventually. You might want to try general Large Animal/Rural Vets who do cattle work that are outside of Ft. Collins; there is a lack of large interest in that field of Vet Medicine, and most of those vets do Equine as well and will probably not be filled with students/interns.

I hope this helps you out. I wasn't pursuing Equine Science as a degree or for Vet Medicine when I was there, but I took many classes in their program and got familiar with the professors/staff, and have had enough general experience with it to know you can definitely get a solid, worthwhile education there, and have a great time doing so as well. The campus is large and beautiful, the town is small but a great place with very kind, considerate people. Overall, the atmosphere there was awesome and I plan to go back there as soon as I can.

 

[Minnerbelle]

-The VTH they have also has the latest technology, and is very well known throughout the community. As someone else mentioned, they do in fact do a LOAD of work and research with Oncology (learned this touring the VTH on their "Open House" day). However, do not expect to be able to work/intern at the VTH. The VTH is 100% filled to capacity with working students and interns/volunteers, and unless someone retires, quits, or gets fired, your chances of being able to do work there for anything is slim to none.

CSU does have a very good oncology program, as they have a pretty big dedicated wing of the VTH (animal cancer center). Where they have a huge tissue bank that anyone can request tissue from for research purposes. It at least looks brand new, and they have very shiny beautiful labs with great equipment. But am I missing something here? Was the oncology thing an aside, or does it pertain especially to equine? I wasn't aware that there was a huge equine focus in the oncology dept. I thought if anything, it was heavy on canine.

It might be difficult for undergrads/pre-vets to have a lot of opportunities in the VTH, but it's actually not that bad once you're in vet school. Job opportunities pop up here and there, and if you're really interested and persistent, I'm sure you can find a way in. I know several people who also got involved in a lab at the VTH, and kind of slid over into the clinical side with the clinicians and residents connected to that lab as well.

You start clinics at the beginning of 3rd year, so it's really just the first two years you're really looking for extra hangout time at the VTH anyway. And if you're really involved with clubs, there are so many opportunities to come and play (and I'm sure you can get hooked up through that too). I think through emergency club, you can go and volunteer at the CCU on a regular basis. Community practice allows you to come and volunteer as well (I think they buddy you up with a 4th year). Through surgery club, you can sign up to go and observe surgeries for the whole day if you wanted to. They literally let you just walk in and out of any OR and observe once you're there. Those are just a few of the many opportunities out there, even if you don't find a job per se. I think most people marvel at the endless opportunities at the VTH when they start school, but quickly get too busy to take part in a lot of them anyway.

 

[EveyG]

I think through emergency club, you can go and volunteer at the CCU on a regular basis. Community practice allows you to come and volunteer as well (I think they buddy you up with a 4th year). Through surgery club, you can sign up to go and observe surgeries for the whole day if you wanted to. They literally let you just walk in and out of any OR and observe once you're there. Those are just a few of the many opportunities out there, even if you don't find a job per se. I think most people marvel at the endless opportunities at the VTH when they start school, but quickly get too busy to take part in a lot of them anyway.

I am an hourly in CCU and I started volunteering there in graduate school 2 years ago. CCU has a high turnover rate, so Rebecca (the volunteer coordinator) is ALWAYS looking for new volunteers. Just come in and fill out an app, and indicate you are interested in CCU. This won't help if you are looking for Equine, BUT I volunteered at the Equine Orthopaedic Research Center in high school for 4 years (apparently you were supposed to be at least 18 to volunteer...meh, no one cared), and again, all I did was go in and fill out a volunteer app and indicate I wanted to do Equine something. Be patient when waiting for a call back, volunteer coordinators do all of thier "hiring" of volunteers near the beginning of the semester, so if you apply in October, for example, you might not get a call until January for spring semester. And if you don't get a call, call them! They won't mind and it shows you are sincerely interested in working for free (who can resist that?) Point is, you can "get in" with the people at the VTH as an undergrad, it just takes a but more effort and patience. 😀

 

[bluesails]

Thanks very very much for all the info. 🙂

 

[TheCattleman]

But am I missing something here? Was the oncology thing an aside, or does it pertain especially to equine? I wasn't aware that there was a huge equine focus in the oncology dept. I thought if anything, it was heavy on canine.

It is heavy on Small Animal Oncology, but not very sure on how extensive their Oncology research is on Equine. Also with the VTH I meant to differentiate the pre-vet from actual vet grad school students; for Pre-Vets, working/interning/volunteering in VTH is almost out of the question, but of course for vet grad students there will be various opportunities. Preference is given to them anyways, since they are naturally at the top of the priority chain, so it would do any Pre-Vet better anyways to just seek out a clinic to work or volunteer at.

 

[eventualeventer]

Never been to CSU, but just a reminder that undergrad experience at a school != graduate or veterinary experience. While there may be crossover of faculty and teaching facilities, the programs are separate.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Never been to CSU, but just a reminder that undergrad experience at a school != graduate or veterinary experience. While there may be crossover of faculty and teaching facilities, the programs are separate.

i'm so confuzzled. where did i go wrong????? Is the OP asking about studying equine science at CSU for undergrad, or going to vet school and tracking LA?

 

[jmo1012]

i'm so confuzzled. where did i go wrong????? Is the OP asking about studying equine science at CSU for undergrad, or going to vet school and tracking LA?

yeah i thought we were originally talking vet school too...

 

[eventualeventer]

EveyG and The Cattleman threw in their opinions on equine science/ag/undergrad stuff as well, so I wanted to make sure any lurkers on the thread didn't consider their posts to reflect on the vet program. No worries. 🙂