Sunday, Feb. 2 wasn’t just for the Super Bowl, but it was also the first Cal Poly Pomona Horse Show of 2020. Every first Sunday, the Horsemanship Club performs a show geared to entertain and educate crowds about the program.
Under the supervision of trainers and staff, students of all skill levels do the work in planning and executing the program.
Maddi Ogburn is ready to take the reins as the new coordinator of horse training and farm operations after the previous coordinator, Lauren Corona. As a CPP alumna (animal science, 2019), Ogburn is no stranger to these stables. “It’s a great (horse) program, and I believe in it and (in) the students a lot,” she said.
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Ogburn will be working with the younger horses, from starting them on a saddle to deciding if they will perform in the show or will be sold.
“I am just looking forward to bringing some consistency,” Ogburn said. “We haven’t had a trainer for two years so I’m really excited to just dive deep into the program.”
Addressing the crowd, Executive Director John Lambert explained the extensive history of CPP’s horse breeding program. “We get donated stallion(s) breeding from all over the world,” Lambert said. About 15 to 20 3-year-old foals are sold every year. The rest remain at CPP to participate in horse shows and be raised for future breeding. CPP mares can trace ancestry back to Kellogg’s original herd.
CPP has kept the Arabian Horse Show tradition alive since 1926. It’s filled with fun and facts while the crowd learns about the history, riding styles, attire, showmanship and training. Fun competitions like an egg balance race cracked the crowd up with every egg drop.
Each horse displayed the stunning physical standards of the Arabian breed but with its own individual personalities. At the end, patrons are welcomed into the stables to meet two of the horses.
First-year transfer aerospace engineering student Jacob Short was pleasantly surprised by the performance. He and his friends joined the lines waiting for photos with the stars. “It was my first horse show ever,” Short said. “I didn’t even know that this was a thing …. I didn’t know what to expect, and it turned out to be pretty interesting and fun to watch.”
The Arabian Horse Show is hosted at the Arabian Horse Center at 2 p.m. on the first Sunday of every month from October through May. Parking Lots E and F are the closest parking options and a $3 parking permit is required. There is a gift shop and snack stand where patrons can further support the CPP Horsemanship Club.
The CPP community can attend free with a Bronco ID. Otherwise, adult tickets are $5 and seniors and children are $3. Children 5 and younger are admitted for free.