everything involved in horse care and management. Some of them will also do intensive riding classes. All in all they receive a well-rounded education that allows them to go in many different directions.” With majors that include both Equine Business
Management and Equine Business Management / Riding, Johnson and Wales graduates are able to use both their business knowledge and their equine skills to find jobs with some of the biggest names in the equine world. “We’ve had students become barn managers at all
sorts of barns,” Beth explains. “Kevin Babbington in Pennsylvania has one of our former students managing his barn as does Denny Emerson up in Vermont. We’ve had students decide that they want a more regular paycheck with more regular hours, and we now have eight working at SmartPak Equine. We have students working in different apparel and tack manufacturers. And of course we have students who end up riding for a living. It just really depends on what their talents are and what they decide to pursue. We just give them the skills and knowledge to succeed.”
The Professors Johnson and Wales’ Center
for Equine Studies boasts an impressive faculty to help their students reach their career goals in the equine industry. Beth is the Director of the
Center for Equine Studies and has been improving the program at Johnson and Wales for 27 years. She has experience in both dressage and eventing, but has made the switch over to dressage. She has been fortunate enough to further her own education with some of the biggest names in the dressage world thus far. “I train with Shannon Dueck who also used to work
here at Johnson and Wales,” says Beth. “I’ve worked with a lot of clinicians. We’ve had New England Dressage Association clinics here with Anky van Grunsvan, Ulla Salzgaber and Lisa Wilcox, so I’ve been fortunate.” In addition to Beth, there are three other faculty members who lend their time and experience to the students at the Center for Equine Studies. Dr. Cindy Sharp-Carr DVM teaches both academic classes at the Providence, Rhode Island campus and equine
management and riding classes at the Rehoboth farm. Dirk Fogg is the coach of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association team. He also teaches both equine academic and riding classes. Dirk excels in teaching the jumping classes. Crystal Taylor is the Director of Riding at the Center for Equine Studies. She is also the coach for Johnson and Wales Intercollegiate Dressage Association team. Additionally, the Center for Equine Studies employs two Equine Facilities Managers, John Richards and Kelly O’Neil.
The Teaching Assistants “At J & W, our predominant breed is the Warmblood, and
that’s in all different types,” Beth says. Johnson and Wales is home to 32 school-owned horses. The vast majority are Warmbloods with a few Thoroughbreds also making their home there. “All of our horses are
donated through the generosity of people who decide that they don’t need that particular horse any more,” Beth explains. “Sometimes they’re having training issues. Sometimes people are getting out of the horse industry. There are all sorts of situations. We get a lot of calls for horses, but we have to be a picky about what we accept. We generally take them on trial first. Right now, for instance, we have a lovely Trakehner on trial.” Beth explains that there are
Lindsey Elwell on Splash at a jumping clinic with Tom Davis in April 2010. Photo © Fl
a ands F tl oto
certain criterion that a horse needs to have to be accepted into the Johnson and Wales Program. “We like them to have
at least first level dressage training,” she points out. “And we always need a few FEI prospects. If it’s a Prix St. Georges dressage horse, it doesn’t need to jump. But if it’s a first level dressage horse, it needs to jump. If we get a horse working at the lower levels in dressage and it has the ability, we’ll bring it along to the upper levels. That being said, very few have the ability.” There have even been a few top level dressage horses donated to the program. “We do get the rare Grand Prix schoolmaster donated to us,” she continues, “but they’re few and far between and generally a little older.” All of the horses at Johnson and Wales are cared for immaculately, and they rarely work more than once in a
Warmbloods Today 43
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