UNH Today

UNH Today recently spoke with staff at the UNH Equine Center about their program and how donors help make it successful.

What has the 2016-17 year been like for the equine program?

A huge success! We graduated our largest senior class ever, including 11 new Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) International registered instructors and one new PATH advanced instructor. We had more students than any other university qualify for the National Intercollegiate Dressage Association Quiz Competition (a knowledge competition), and we celebrated the 46th year of our horse trials.

How have donors helped your program recently?

We began renovations to our cross-country course, supported a weekend clinic for the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association and Intercollegiate Dressage Association and bought two new horses this year using generous gifts from donors.

Your Philanthropy Creates Possibilities

Explore the many ways you can support UNH at unh.edu/give/how-to-give.

Our development staff would be happy to work with you.

What motivates the faculty and staff in the equine program?

We believe in our program because we are educating the next generation of the equine industry, and we’re giving them the skills they need, not just to be successful but to make ethical decisions for the animals we work with and love.

What is the main goal of your program?

The most important thing this program does on any given day is give students the tools they need to follow their passion for horses and turn it into a viable career. We help students live out their dreams.

What’s next on your “to do” list in terms of projects to tackle?

Our biggest need is our facility. We hope to be able to finish renovations to the cross-country course as new donations come in. In the future, we hope our donors will choose to support renovations to our overall facility, which is quite elderly, so that we can upgrade the stables, arenas and classroom space.