University of Florida - Tyler

October 14, 2017 

Today we visited the University of Florida’s Horse Teaching Unit. It was an unforgettable experience for everyone involved.  





We visited the horse arena in which they host horse shows and other events. 

We talked about the horses having babies and even went to see the babies in the backfield. When we got to where the baby horses were, we were granted access to go inside the field with the babies. We got to get up close to them and even pet them.

We learned about freeze branding, which is a type of branding for identification, in which instead of fire torching a brand, they freeze it with liquid nitrogen, and press firmly to back thigh for 15-18 seconds. They freeze brand them so you don’t overly damage the hide on the horse, which is what would happen with hot branding. We saw horses with physical injuries, from a missing eye to a cut open jaw. We then went to the tack room to see all the saddles that they have and even learned which saddle goes on what type of horse. 

Then we learned about the horses’ names and how they get their names from a combination of their mother and father’s names. We learned that their most valuable breeding stallion is named Reason. He is very tall quarter horse, who is friendly but tries to bite at times. After all this we bid our farewells and took off to our next location.