A $1 million gift to the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University will support internationally known equine orthopedics and reproduction research programs. The gift was given by Jon and Abby Winkelried of the Marvine Ranch near Meeker. Jon Winkelried is a president and co-chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs.
The gift will be evenly split between the Orthopaedic Research Center and the Equine Reproduction Laboratory. The $500,000 dedicated to orthopaedics will fund a researcher in musculoskeletal injuries and support an endowment for additional permanent faculty positions.
"The generosity of the Winkelrieds will benefit our ability to better understand, prevent and cure injuries in equine athletes across the globe," said Dr. Wayne McIlwraith, director of the Orthopaedic Research Center. "This gift enhances our ability to recruit the foremost experts to study joint injuries and bone disease."
New facilities for client horses will be constructed on Colorado State University's Foothills Research Campus with the $500,000 dedicated to equine reproduction. The gift also will support research for the continued development of reproduction techniques.
The Equine Reproduction Laboratory conducts internationally recognized reproduction research with scientific breakthroughs that benefit both humans and horses, and also provides equine artificial reproduction services to its clients.
"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," said Dr. Ed Squires, a Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and researcher in the Equine Reproduction Laboratory. "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."
The College’s Orthopaedic Research Center is known worldwide for its research and clinical work to prevent joint problems in equine athletes such as cutting horses and for researching ways to heal orthopedic injuries including gene therapy and novel cartilage healing techniques, with some recently expanded work in human athletes.
Since its start in 1967, the College’s Equine Reproduction Laboratory has obtained international recognition. The lab's research breakthroughs include semen freezing, embryo transfer, egg transfer and frozen embryos that currently are used in the equine industry. The lab also offers a full range of commercial mare breeding services, continuing education courses for breeders and veterinarians, and provides horse owners with the most current technology available for reproductive management.
