Gift bolsters CSU equine orthopedic, reproduction programs

FORT COLLINS, COLO - 08/02/06 - A $1-million gift to Colorado State University's equine veterinary programs will be evenly split between the university's Gail Holmes Equine Orthopedic Research Center and the Equine Reproduction Laboratory.

The $500,000 dedicated to orthopedics will fund a researcher in musculoskeletal injuries and support an endowment for additional permanent faculty positions.

New facilities for client horses will be constructed on the university's foothills campus with the $500,000 dedicated to equine reproduction. The gift also will support research for the continued development of reproduction techniques.

Jon and Abby Winkelried of the Marvine Ranch near Meeker provided the endowment; Jon Winkelried is a president and co-COO of Goldman Sachs.

"Jon and Abby are great horse enthusiasts and have a sincere interest in the research at Colorado State. This gift allows us to greatly enhance our current facilities," says Dr. Ed Squires, equine reproduction expert and biomedical sciences professor. "We currently house between 100-120 client horses during our busy months, which means our barns are entirely full and we occasionally don't have room for all of the horses we service. In addition, some of these facilities are more than 30 years old, and this gift allows us to replace them with modern, state-of-the-art barns."