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The Asbury University Equine Department announced the new Western Performance concentration (within the Equine Studies major), which will launch for undergraduate students this fall.
“We believe there is a big need for this concentration due to the growth in the industry,” said Equine Director Elizabeth McNeil ’13 Guthrie. “The hope for this program is to continue developing students with excellence in reining, training, colt starting, and other specific western venues. We believe that Asbury is uniquely poised to train students in this industry and teach them to also be a light for the Gospel.”
The Asbury University Equine Department offered elective classes in Western Performance for years before launching this new concentration within the Equine Studies major. The Western Performance concentration will mirror the Equine Training concentration utilizing Service Mounts, with the former helping to train horses to be highly sensitive to cues and the latter training horses to be non-responsive to cues.
“The equine industry needs young people who can not only start young horses safely but also train those horses to develop into finished performers,” Guthrie said. “When we look at our current students training Western Performance horses, we are filled with excitement because the future looks very bright not only for the students, but for the industry as a whole.”
Director of Equine Training Jesse Westfall will lead this concentration, with more than 30 years of professional training experience and service as a judge for the National Reining Horse Association, traveling the United States, Canada, and Australia to judge. As a two-time Congress Reserve Champion, Westfall earned a Top 10 placement in the 2022 Horse&Rider Trainer of the Year competition, hosted by the Equine Network.
“Western Performance has a lot of growth in the horse industry,” Westfall said. “This will give our students an even greater opportunity to achieve a high level of horsemanship.”
Asbury Equine students continue to make strides in the industry.
This month, Asbury Equine students participated in the Collegiate Colt Starting Challenge at the Idaho Horse Expo, held at the Ford Idaho Horse Park in Nampa, Idaho. For their first appearance at the Expo and the only university competing from the East Coast, Asbury University scored third place.
In 2022, the Asbury University Equine Program dedicated the 29,000-square-foot Henry and Elsie Bayless Arena, a new facility that includes 26 stalls and a Western riding arena to accommodate growth in the Police Mounts and Western Riding programs.
Learn more about the Asbury University Equine Department.