New Equine Performance Evaluation Facility at New Bolton Center |
|
December 11, 2012,
Volume 59, No. 15 |
|
Ilona English standing in the new EPEF with her stallion, Popeye, and jockey Rebecca Cord. |
The Ilona English Equine Performance Evaluation Facility (EPEF), the newest building on the Penn Vet New Bolton Center campus was recently dedicated. The cold, rainy weather last month demonstrated just why such a facility is important to the Kennett Square campus of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterninary Medicine. The campus cares for large animals and 85% of the patients seen by New Bolton Center veterinarians are horses.
In her opening remarks, Dr. Elizabeth Davidson, associate professor of sports medicine said, “This kind of weather is exactly the reason we need this building.” The facility is an 80 ft. by 120 ft. indoor arena that offers an even, dependable, appropriate riding surface for the evaluation of horses. Shelter from the weather—snow, ice, rain and searing summer sun—provides a much safer and more comfortable environment for patients, clients, clinicians, nurses and students. The building is also capable of supporting mobile technology routinely used by sports medicine clinicians in lameness diagnoses.
“This building will be an integral element in our Sports Medicine Program,” explained Dr. Davidson, a primary force behind the building and its design. “As we continue to build one of the premier equine sports medicine programs anywhere, this facility will help us to excel in patient care by giving us the ability to evaluate horses, regardless of the weather, in a safe environment.”
Ilona English, WEv’77 and GFA’88, and breeder and owner of Summit Sporthorses and Sportponies in Ringoes, NJ, spearheaded the initiative to build an indoor arena and provided the initial funding for the project. Blue Bell equestrian Saly Glassman was another major donor.
Guests at the dedication heard remarks by Dr. Davidson and Penn Vet Dean Joan Hendricks, as well as hearing of two special four-legged guests, Boyd Martin’s Neville Bardos and Caitlin Silliman’s Catch a Star. Both were victims of a local barn fire, and both, following emergency care at the ICU in New Bolton Center’s Widener Hospital, are again competing at top levels. Popeye, a jet-black Westphalian sport pony stallion owned by Ms. English and ridden by Rebecca Cord, performed a dressage musical freestyle to “I’m Too Sexy.”
The EPEF was built by King Construction Company of New Holland, PA. For the footing, Dr. Davidson chose MC Ecotrack by Martin Collins, a blend of wax-coated sand, CLOPF fibers, and soft rubber that provides an ideal surface for sport horses. Dr. Davidson pointed out, “We’re the only veterinary facility in this country to have this footing. Only two other veterinary facilities, both in England, are using it.”
|
From left, Ilona S. English, Dean Joan Hendricks and Saly Glassman dedicate the EPEF with a cut of the ribbon. |
The Sports Medicine team at New Bolton Center offers a wide range of specialty services that address lameness issues as well as those of the heart and airways. State-of-the-art imaging capabilities including MRI, treadmill exam, ultrasound, CT, digital radiology and nuclear scans allow the veterinarians to diagnose and treat performance limiting conditions in horses of all disciplines.
The EPEF is the initial phase of a two-phase project that will culminate in a state-of-the-art Equine Performance Clinic. The proposed complex will include holding stalls, an enclosed hard trot-up track and hard surface lunging area, diagnostic center, procedure room, client services, sophisticated farrier clinic and more. Dr. Davidson said, “Having a multitude of surfaces allows the clinician to understand the dynamics of an abnormality. Some are more pronounced on soft footing, others on hard surfaces.”
Ms. English implored, “Join me in building phase two of this facility so that we can have the best performance evaluation facility in America.”
Ms. Glassman added, “This facility represents an example of the work that is done here. It goes beyond competency to genuine caring.” In a humorous reference to a mantra those who rode as children heard constantly, she added, “heels down, eyes up and kick. Let’s keep it going.”
|