meanwhile, Back at the Ranch …

At the CVHS ranch west of Stillwater, fourth-year veterinary students receive specialized, hands-on training in animal reproduction. Funded by the CVHS and donations from faculty and private horse enthusiasts, the ranch provides educational opportunities for future veterinarians and clinical reproductive services for Oklahoma’s equine population.

Dr. Reed Holyoak, Bullock professor in equine theriogenology who heads the program, expanded its focus on thoroughbreds to include a more representative sample of Oklahoma’s horse population. “I believe it is very important for students to be exposed to all the assisted reproductive techniques available to the horse industry,” he says.

The barren mare program at the ranch is designed to breed problem mares. In addition to client stallions, the CVHS owns four stallions, a thoroughbred, a quarter horse, a paint and a Hanoverian. The students collect semen from the stallions and then either use it fresh during the breeding season or freeze it for use during the next breeding season. The semen of client stallions can be cool-shipped all over North America.

“The number-three reining quarter horse stallion in the nation was recently at the ranch, where we collected and froze his semen,” Holyoak says. “We also had the number-12 cutting quarter horse stallion on site for the same process. We were able to breed 30 client mares at the ranch to this horse and of those, 29 are pregnant.”

Assisted reproductive techniques can involve artificial insemination, cool-shipped or frozen semen, embryo transfer and in vitro fertilization. Veterinary students are exposed to the problem mare and deal with infertility and reduced fertility as well as artificial insemination and embryo transfer. (Staff reductions have forced the suspension of in vitro fertilization practices.)

“Part of the educational experience we offer students is the opportunity to track and foal out the mares,” Holyoak says. “We have 10 ranch mares and a number of client mares that come to the ranch for foaling. Each mare has an assigned student, and students and clinicians closely monitor these mares through foaling. Experiencing the birth process firsthand is one of the huge advantages of the ranch.”

Over the years, the demographics of veterinary students have changed. Now most students come from suburban communities and few have seen a cow or mare go through labor and the birthing process.

“The students see what normal is and sometimes they see what abnormal is,” he says. “Once they know what normal is, it’s easier to determine when the abnormal is happening. In a clinical setting, that factor is lacking. Cases in the clinic are abnormal because the animal is sick or injured. Breeding mares and birthing foals is not hospital-based. It’s farm-based, and the ranch is where students need to experience it.”

“The training I received at the ranch prepared me well,” says Dr. Shalyn Bliss, class of 2006, who is completing a theriogenology internship at Performance Equine Associates in Whitesboro, Texas. “I am at least one year ahead of the people who didn’t have the opportunities we had at the ranch.”

Classmate Dr. Chelsea Cohorn agrees, “It built my confidence coming into private practice.”

Holyoak hopes to build the program to manage the ranch’s 30 cattle as intensely as the horses. He estimates $3 to $5 million is needed to ensure the continued growth of the ranch programs, which he believes are essential in producing rural veterinarians.

“The ranch provides learning in a rural setting,” he says. “Oklahoma is a rural state, and the country is experiencing a shortage of veterinarians to service rural areas nationwide. We need welltrained rural veterinarians.”