Recognizing that the single largest concentration of horses in the United States is within a 100-mile radius of its campus, Cal Poly Pomona seeks to provide educational opportunities that address the needs and challenges unique to the horse industry.

Dr. Robert Bray, coordinator of the Equine Outreach Program, finds himself a popular man as he feeds young horses at Cal Poly Pomona.

The university's Equine Outreach Program (EOP), a key component of that ongoing effort, was established in 1989 as the brainchild of Robert E. Bray. More than a decade later, EOP has expanded to offer more than 40 courses annually both to enrolled students and the general public thanks to an innovative learning process.

"One of the steps we have recently taken bridges outreach with the university's more formal educational arm through the implementation of distance learning programs," says Bray, who is coordinator of the EOP.

UC Davis, Cal State Fresno and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo now conduct courses in conjunction with Cal Poly Pomona by way of live, interactive television. Students at each campus can talk to and see the professors although they are separated by hundreds of miles.

"The success of our distance learning program has advanced so far that students in the equine option program at UC Davis are now required to take Steven Wickler's exercise physiology course and my nutrition course at Cal Poly Pomona," explains Bray. "Starting in fall 2001, Cal Poly Pomona required all of its equine option students to take UC Davis' equine reproduction course."