Page 123 - Speedhorse February 2018

the university’s equine curriculum at the undergraduate level, where Texas A&M offers an equine certificate program. All TAMU students, regardless of major, have the opportunity to add the equine certificate program to their studies. At any time, as many as 200 students might be pursuing an equine certificate while majoring
in fields such as finance, real estate, agriculture business, government affairs or animal science.
“We modernized our curriculum,” Heird said of the classes available through the Department of Animal Science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, which prepare students for a variety of jobs in the horse industry, including production, business and management. “It really prepares students for where the jobs are today.”
With contemporary curriculum in place, the
the types of experiences that they’re going to get when they go out into the real world,” Heird said. “You can’t expect to graduate students who can
go out and manage facilities for people who have invested a lot of money unless students are exposed to the very best facilities while at the university.”
While some buildings, such as the Dick Freeman Arena, will be renovated, others are being built to serve specific purposes. The first phase of construction resulted in the Thomas G. Hildebrand, DVM ’56 Equine Complex, which opened on April 30, 2014. The complex was designed to serve a variety of purposes, from teaching and research to outreach and events. A large part of the complex is used by the Texas A&M Equestrian Team.
“Our equestrian team was just named the National Champions last year,” Heird said. “They’ve been in the Hildebrand Complex for three years now. Of course, that’s not their first National Championship, but it was good to see them recruiting the kinds of kids who are going to make an impact in the industry and certainly have been impactful in our own equestrian program.
T T h h e e T T h h o o m m a a s s G G . . H H i i l l d d e e b b r r a a n n d d D D V V M M ’ ’ 5 5 6 6 E E q q u u i i n n e e C C o o m m p p l l e e x x
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the Texas A&M Equine Initiative including providing the initial challenge gift for the Glenn Blodgett Equine Chair.
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