Oppenheimer Family Equine Center

Breeding Lab

The breeding lab contains all of the equipment needed to run a breeding program successfully. This includes artificial insemination materials, microscopes, a computer system for record keeping, and all other laboratory equipment needed for collecting stallions, analyzing semen, palpating and breeding mares, as well as performing overall herd health. The lab uses a phantom for collecting stallions and also has the chutes needed to examine mares and treat other horses.

Foaling Barn

New in 2018, the Foaling Barn features six 16’ by 16’ stalls, 4 with a removable center wall to provide a 16’ by 32’ when needed. All the stalls have outside runs attached that look over irrigated pastures that the mares and foals transition into after foaling. The barn also provides a student lounge for the foaling enterprise students that are on mare watch shifts 24 hours a day during foaling season. The lounge has a split screen that lets students continually observe 8 paddocks and stalls with expectant mares.

Stallion Barn

The Stallion Barn is home to Cal Poly’s stallions as well as the office for the Oppenheimer Family Equine Center. Each stallion has a large, secure stall and paddock and the barn’s interior is a large classroom used for multiple classes, meetings, and large gatherings. It is equipped with large screens, a laboratory, and the opportunity to work with live animals in a classroom setting allowing for “Learn By Doing” at its best.

The Student Horse Barn

The student horse barn houses students’ personal horses brought to use in equine courses such as the intermediate riding class. Although these classes don’t require bringing a personal horse, having housing at the Student Horse Barn gives students the opportunity to do so (with instructor approval). Students pay board for a stall with a corral and are allowed access to the rest of the Equine Center amenities. For student horse boarding information please visit this link .

Equine Center Pastures

Irrigated pastures are provided for mares in foal and growing foals. Dry land pastures are available for the riding horses, and enterprise horses at the beginning of their training as well as the weanlings, yearlings, two-year-old’s and recipient mares. The Equine Center has access to over 150 acres of pasture.

Arenas

The Equine Center has two arenas, the main arena is a 150 by 300-foot covered arena with seating in the stands for one hundred and the other is a circular outside ring that is a 100-foot diameter. They both have solid sides and multipurpose sand footing, used in classes, for enterprises, and are available for boarders and the riding teams. There are also 5 round corrals adjacent to the arenas for turnout and groundwork.

Forty-stall Barn

The forty-stall barn houses horses for the Quarter Horse Enterprise, the Cal Poly Dressage Team and the Cal Poly Equestrian Team. Horses in Cal Poly’s animal nutrition research are also kept at this barn, as well as personally boarded horses. 

Other Facilities

There is a 36-stall mare barn, teasing pen, new tack rooms, wash racks, tie rails, a 500-ton hay barn, and multiple large pipe paddocks with shelters that are available for use at the Equine Center.