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Comprehensive facility in works at K-State to aid horses By Michelle Hall
Where do horses go when they need an evaluation, surgery, rehabilitation or just a little TLC? Well, if Dr. Earl Gaughan has anything to say about it, they'll soon come to Kansas State University's Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital to check out the new Equine Soundness Center.
"We decided we needed a better facility here to look at lameness," Gaughan said. "We thought it was doable." Gaughan said with their current facilities, it is difficult to find a place to look at a horse that is experiencing problems getting around. They have no arena to just see a horse work, for example. "For many years we only had a parking lot to work in, which has some obvious drawbacks," he said. Even through some administration and personnel changes, Gaughan has kept the dream of the center alive. In 1994, the hospital put together a Horsemen's Advisory Board and the concept of the center became a focus. What they have come up with is truly a dream facility for equine. The center will be built due east of the current hospital and will be very presentable, Gaughan said. The first floor will have a large arena for Gaughan and his colleagues to look at animals experiencing lameness, as well as holding stalls for the visiting animals. The second floor will include a public area, a large classroom and office space. In addition, the public will be able to view the arena from above. "The hallmark will be two high-speed treadmills," Gaughan said. One will be used for clients and will be publicly viewable, like the arena, and the other will be used for research. Other technology at the new center will include cameras to record and a ground reaction force plate in the new arena to evaluate a horse's gait. "It should enhance everything that we do," Gaughan said of the center. "We want to increase and improve what we're capable of doing." Presently, they have a treadmill and a force plate analyzer, but the treadmill is aged and the force plate is hard to access, Gaughan said. "We're doing a good job now but we want to do a much better job," he said. "The center will offer unprecedented professional service and care for horses." Gaughan said clients will be owners of horses of all types, including athletes and pleasure horses. The facility will provide services and technology, as well as provide space and equipment for research on horse's abilities to perform and the unique issues they confront, Gaughan said. This will, in turn, enhance K-State's teaching mission. "This will improve our reputation, nationally and internationally. We hope it will attract people from farther away," Gaughan said. "While we were dreaming we decided, why not be the best there is? We think it will be unique to have what we will have here." Dr. Roger Fingland, professor of surgery and director of the teaching hospital, calls the center a "fantastic project." With the large equine industry in Kansas, K-State's teaching hospital is a resource that is unsurpassed, he said. "To a great degree our quality is the result of the people who work here," Fingland said. "With the Equine Soundness Center, we will have a facility that matches in quality the people who provide veterinary care. It will be one of the pre-eminent facilities in the United States." Additional faculty and staff will include a full-time farrier and one or two faculty-level positions. Current faculty will be an essential component of the center's success and the continued success of the hospital, Gaughan said. The $8 million project, which includes the building, equipment and personnel, will be built entirely with private gifts. The project is currently in the conceptualization and design phase; a working visual understanding of the facility is complete. The fundraising campaign is now in the silent stages with a formal kickoff to the public phase scheduled for next fall, said Tim Chapman, director of development for the College of Veterinary Medicine. He said they hope to have most of the funds in place or committed within the next 24 months. "I believe we can do it," Gaughan said. "We're going to offer services at the upper echelon. We're going to do things relative to horses at the highest level we can. No other facility will have the complete capacity to assist horses that this program and center will possess."
Image: Drawing of proposed center by architects Brent Bowman and Associates. Spring 2003 |
The
dream facility has been in the works since 1989, when it started as just
a doodling on a napkin at a pizza restaurant. Gaughan, professor of equine
surgery, and a few of his then-colleagues brainstormed the idea one evening.