Olds College - Equine Reproduction Program

01/23/2026

Check it out!

01/21/2025

INTERNSHIP available on equine breeding farm!
*contact information at bottom of ad*

For the beginning of our 2025 breeding season, starting in or around March/April, we are offering a 3 month internship position to an individual who desires to get some hands on experience and job experience on our breeding farm west of Acme, Alberta.

Job tasks include:
- Assisting our Farm Supervisor with monitoring pregnant mares
- Assisting with pre and post foaling care of mares and babies
- Handling mares and foals and bring in the barn for vet/breeding/medication purposes.
- Barn chores (feeding, cleaning stalls, etc)

Experience with handling horses is a big asset.

The ideal candidate is a motivated individual who will go above and beyond for the well being of all horses on the property.
You will apply both the knowledge you already have and the lessons you'll learn here to keep the horses in good health on a day-to-day basis while keeping a keen eye out to spot any signs of a horse in distress or anything else which may be out of the ordinary.

On property room is available if desired.
Meals are provided.
Wage and flexible work schedule will be discussed in person.

Please contact Evelyn Sabraw via email
[email protected]

12/18/2024

Merry Christmas Everyone! We hope you enjoy the holiday season with your friends and family! 🎄🎅🏼

11/30/2024

We’re hiring!

The Equine Reproduction Center is seeking a reliable, hardworking individual to join our team as the weekend barn manager.

This role will include daily barn duties (turnout, feeding, stall cleaning, treatments (if needed), etc).

The ideal candidate will have experience working with horses and strong attention to detail and safety.

YOU WILL BE WORKING WITH STALLIONS IN THIS POSITION.

Starting immediately until mid March.

If you’re a previous student of the program and miss hanging around we’d love to have you apply.
MESSAGE for more details.

05/09/2024

Boris

Sadly, today the long journey through life ended for our special, old practice stallion, Boris (Blue Buck Star) after nearly 33 years. He was born on June 5, 1991. When he reached maturity, his first job was as a bucking horse. He was not very successful at that so was used as a pasture breeding stallion for a couple of years. Apparently, he was not very successful at that either and was purchased by a meat buyer in the spring of 1998. At that time, we were looking for a good practice/teaser stallion for the reproduction program so Boris came to live at the college in March of 1998. Over the next 22 years, Boris was the mainstay of the breeding program and an excellent teacher for students learning to handle stallions. He had excellent libido and great semen, but was also calm, well mannered and easy to handle. He did hand breeding, semen collection for AI, was a good teaser and even participated in some research projects. He knew his jobs and did them well but at the same time was patient with the students and nonthreatening, so even the most nervous student felt comfortable handling him.
Boris’s eyesight began to fail him in the spring of 2020 so, even though he was willing to keep working, he was retired from active service at the end of that breeding season. For the last four years, Boris enjoyed his retirement at the college. He was comfortable in his pen and spent long hours standing in his special corner and enjoying the company of his friend next door, Mystery Chase. This past winter was hard for Boris and he began to lose weight and to show his advanced years. Today he was found in his pen exhibiting signs of colic so, based on his age and condition, the decision was made to euthanize him.
I know that many of you have great memories of Boris and your time spent with him. I know that Avery and I do and that he will always have a special place in our hearts.

Below is an image of Boris on his 20th birthday.

If you have any pictures to share or stories of your time spent with Boris we would to hear them in the comments! All will be passed along to Dr. Marion Anderson.

01/10/2022

Olds College Equine Reproduction program has a new job opening for the upcoming breeding season! 🐎

Please see the attached job posting and apply though indeed or visit the college website for more information under the employment tab.

If you know someone who may be interested in this position - please tag them below. 🐴
Please apply by January 28, 2022.

Instructional Assistant - Equine Reproduction Technician Program

Olds College

06/06/2021

It is a very special fellas birthday today... Boris the stallion turned 30! 🎉Boris has taught hundreds of students during his time at Olds College. He means a lot to both the staff, students and alumni! 💙
(If you have a birthday wish for Boris or a story to share please post it below and they will be shared with Dr. Marion Anderson)

02/26/2021

New Stallion Alert 🚨
Meet Capitan! He is our newest addition to the line up of stallions that will be standing here at Olds College for the 2021 breeding season. 🎉

Stay tuned for more updates as the 2021 breeding season is now underway and foaling season is right around the corner!

You can also follow us on Instagram for some behind the scenes stories, fun facts, and cute foal updates at

08/06/2020

Sadly, yesterday we have lost another member of our aging practice mare herd, Our Freedom. She was 26 years old. She was born in Kentucky and purchased by Alberta interests as a broodmare in the early 2000’s. After several unsuccessful attempts by them to get her in foal, she was donated to us in 2005.

I always considered Freedom to be the “fashion model” of our herd because she was tall, slim, elegant and lovely. She had a very gentle, loving temperament and was joy to be around. At first she had difficulty adjusting to life in a herd. She was constantly bullied by the other mares and invariably found herself at the bottom of the pecking order. Eventually she learned to develop close ties with other submissive mares in the herd which gave her more security and she became less vulnerable. During her first year, Freedom suffered a few minor injuries at the hands of her herd mates but at one point she became entangled in a barb wire fence and sustained severe lacerations of her left hind leg that required long term care and bandaging. Since this happened in the spring, the required care needed to be continued throughout the summer. Joanne Wright took Freedom home with her for the summer so that she could be treated on a daily basis. Thanks to her good work, the wounds healed well.

Freedom became a very valuable asset to our program. Due to her gentle, willing and even temperament, she was the “go to“ horse for pretty much everything. She participated in hundreds of breeding and husbandry demonstrations for equine students and for Con Ed students. She was used for handling and radiology labs for AHT students, trimming labs and demos for the farrier students and was even used by the Race Track program for their Groom’s School. She was loved by everyone who came in contact with her, staff and students alike.

We have been so fortunate to have had some very special horses in our practice herd and Our Freedom was definitely one of the best. She will be sadly missed.
- Marion ❤️

(Pictured Freedom and Mac back in the day!)
( if you have any pictures or memories with freedom please share and they’ll all be passed along to Marion)

06/15/2020

It is with a heavy heart that I notify you all that we have lost yet another icon of the reproduction center. Our beloved Trixie passed away last night at the approximate age of 22years. 💛 She died as a result of complications from the latest wound that she sustained exercising her authority across a fence.
Trixie came to us in the fall of 2002 as a young mare with a huge gash across her chest; the first of a long line of wounds she would receive in her lengthy career as an alpha mare. With care, that first wound healed and she quickly became a valuable member of the practice herd. Despite being aggressive with other horses, Trixie loved people and was a favorite of nearly everyone who passed through the program. She loved to be petted, groomed and fussed with and became jealous of any other mare receiving attention when she was not. Trixie exemplified the best qualities of a practice mare. She was easy to handle, trustworthy, reliable and accepted what she was asked to do without fuss or bother. She participated in hundreds of demonstrations of hand breeding, AI, Embryo Transfer, horse handling, medication delivery, vital signs, foot trimming, sedation and radiography. Not only did she teach students in the Equine Science and Reproductive Technician programs but also those in Farrier Science, Animal Health Technology and even Ag Production.
Trixie was our “old reliable” and countless times was asked to stand in the stalks beside a client owned mare that was nervous and frightened or to “show the ropes” to a young, virgin stallion. One day she even decided to come into the breeding lab to see what all the fuss was about.
Mares like Trixie are not easy to come by and her value as an individual and as a teaching animal is immeasurable. Her passing leaves a huge gap in the practice herd and in our teaching program. She will be greatly missed.
-Marion ( please leave any pictures or comments below, Marion would love to see them)

04/15/2020

Baby #4 has arrived! Another sweet filly 💕