The barn is quiet this February afternoon, filled with the icy chill of winter. A young mother horse and her foal are the only ones moving about. It's another morning of learning and growing and another day of discoveries for this energetic youngster.

One month after her January birth, the foal has grown significantly, thanks to a steady diet of milk from her mother.

Colleen Bolitho, an animal science senior, was there at 4 a.m. Jan. 27 to welcome the foal into the family at the MSU Horse Teaching and Research Center.

"She's a chunk over there," Bolitho said.

The foal has yet to be named, but she already is a learning tool for the students in MSU's Arabian horse breeding program, located at the research center. Students such as Bolitho experience every aspect of working on a functioning horse farm as part of the program.

"The philosophy has been at the horse farm, since I've been here, that everything is done by the students," said John Shelle, professor in the Department of Animal Science.

An alumnus of MSU for his bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees, Shelle became manager of the horse farm in 1973.

The horses are used to teach students the proper techniques for breeding and raising horses. Students learn the complete process, including how to care for pregnant mares through nutrition and monitoring their progress, as well as how to deliver a foal. Once a foal is born, the students learn how to raise and train the horse.

The last step is learning how to show the horse at competition and to potential buyers at the program's annual sale in April.

Then the cycle begins again.

"These are our tool(s)," farm manager Paula Hitzler said. "We use them from conception to conception."

Leading the pack

For the students, the hands-on experience provides a well-rounded education in caring for horses.

"They learn the full life cycle, basically, of the horse," Hitzler said.

Bolitho said horses need to stay on a strict schedule, and over time has learned to understand the horses she works with. Most recently, she has been working with 3-year-old Viv — short for Vivacious.

"It is a little bit challenging for your mind, not your body," Bolitho said. "They are timely animals. It is more of a mental thing."

Located just off US-127 on Collins Road, the Horse Teaching and Research Center welcomes visitors to the university's sprawling campus, not to mention acts as a throwback to MSU's early years as Michigan Agricultural College.

"I call it the back door to the university," Hitzler said.

The farm is now home to 90-100 horses — all but five are Arabian.

MSU has the third-largest Arabian horse breeding program in the U.S. The center conducts research on the breeding and development of horses to improve both the process and result.

"We've been breeding purebred horses for 100 years," Shelle said.

The university first began breeding Arabian horses specifically in 1943, when W.K. Kellogg donated an Arabian stallion, named Amidore, to MSU.

Shelle said the on-campus farms that produce quality livestock are what make MSU's program unique.

Hitzler said hundreds of students come to the farm each week, including about 55 students majoring in agricultural technology and systems management and 230 in animal science with an equine emphasis. The farm also has between six and 12 paid student employees.

Students can earn either a four-year bachelor's degree or a two-year horse management certification.

Shelle said he believes horses can be a gateway to higher education.

"I think of horses as a vehicle to motivate young people," Shelle said.

Watching students and their horses learn from each other is one of the most interesting aspects of the program, Hitzler said.

"I enjoy teaching students how to teach horses," she said.

Bolitho said the beauty and allure of horses make them so appealing.

"Horses are just amazing creatures," Bolitho said. "When you drive somewhere and you see a horse, you slow down."

Hitzler, an MSU alumna who has worked at the farm for 17 years, said Arabian horses have unique characteristics that make them ideal horses to use for instruction.

"They have amazing intuitive nature," Hitzler said. "They are very sensitive and very perceptive."

On Feb. 7, the students, each paired with a 3-year-old Arabian, learned new biting exercises. Biting teaches the horses to cooperate with a bit in their mouth — a strap that allows the rider to both steer and stop the horse. During the exercise, the horses were calm and cooperative, unfazed by the ropes connected to their mouths or the few extra sets of eyes watching them that day.

"They are a very smart breed of horses," Hitzler said.

She said it is their cooperation that sets Arabian horses apart, making them safe for all ages.

"It's one of the few breeds that allow children to show stallions at their horse shows," Hitzler said.

A new chapter

When the Department of Animal Science was looking to expand the Arabian breeding program last spring, Hitzler said, they turned to another of the best.

Bazy Tankersley owns Al-Marah Arabian Horses in Tucson, Ariz., the second-longest-running Arabian horse program in the country.

During the past 65 years, Tankersley has owned about 2,500 horses.

Shelle received seven mares from Tankersley. The foal born in late January is from one of Tankersley's horses.

Tankersley said the recent partnership between the two programs is the result of a long association with MSU, and she plans to donate more horses to the university in the future.

"I've always admired it tremendously," she said. "I was thrilled that we could be a part of it."

The new partnership with Al-Marah will ensure a continued study and development of Arabian horses, Hitzler said.

She said the program will continue to study breeding patterns among both the Al-Marah horses and the ones already at MSU, possibly crossbreeding them in the future to observe common traits.

"The future of agriculture is based on an educated population," Shelle said.

When it comes to the future of the program, maintaining the high standards that have led to countless awards is the main objective.

"Last summer, MSU students won every junior hunter championship class entered. At most shows, MSU students brought home two championships," Hitzler later wrote in an e-mail.

A public farm, the Horse Teaching and Research Center draws area families who come to picnic and watch the horses. Hiztler said in one year, the farm estimated about 60,000 visitors.

While some students and professors use computers or microscopes, the faculty and students at the Horse Teaching and Research Center attribute the horses to their success.

"We produce high-quality equine students," Hitzler said.

For Bolitho, who began working on the farm during her sophomore year, horses always have been a passion.

"I fell in love with them when I was 10," she said. "It just kind of stuck with me."