CSU Breaks Ground on Temple Grandin Equine Center

Colorado State University honors one of its iconic professors at its ground breaking ceremony at the Temple Grandin Equine Center.

Breaking ground: Interim Dean of CSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences James Pritchett, Professor of Animal Sciences Temple Grandin, CSU Director of Equine Sciences Dr. Jerry Black, CSU President Joyce McConnell, Director of the Temple Grandin Equine Center Adam Daurio, Research Director of the Temple Grandin Equine Center Wendy Wood, Eileen Greenberg, with the Bender Foundation, Lori Bucholz with the Carl & Caroline Swanson Foundation. Photo courtesy of the Colorado State University

Fort Collins, CO (Feb. 10, 2020) — Colorado State University officially broke ground at the Temple Grandin Equine Center. The Temple Grandin Equine Center will be home to a number of educational and service-oriented programs, including undergraduate classes in Equine Sciences (about 400 students), equine-assisted activities and therapies programming for individuals with special needs, research (the first study will focus on providing equine-assisted occupational therapy to children with autism) and the CSU Right Horse Program (which takes rescue horses and retrains them to provide therapy services).

Temple Grandin. Photo courtesy of the Colorado State University

Named for the CSU’s world-renowned professor of animal sciences and autism advocate, the Temple Grandin Equine Center will, according to its website, “celebrate and elevate the role of the horse in society through the physical and emotional benefits of serving those in need.” The center will be a place “where individuals with physical, emotional, and developmental challenges can heal, where therapists can treat, where students can learn, and where scientists can research.”

Featured speakers at the ground breaking included Temple Grandin, CSU President Joyce McConnell and James Pritchett, interim dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and interim director of the Agricultural Experiment Station.

CSU President Joyce McConnell speaks at the ground breaking for the Temple Grandin Equine Center. Photo courtesy of the Colorado State University

Adam Daurio, director of the Temple Grandin Equine Center, speaks at the ground breaking for the Temple Grandin Equine Center. Photo courtesy of the Colorado State University

The Colorado State University also will be breaking ground on the Temple Grandin Equine Center at Spur — CSU’s campus at the National Western Center in Denver — in March.

CSU Professor of Animal Sciences Temple Grandin, CSU President Joyce McConnell, Director of the Temple Grandin Equine Center Adam Daurio. Photo courtesy of the Colorado State University