Rebecca Phelps was the young colt’s last hope. A skittish, rusty brown paint horse, blind in one eye, Marty darted to the back of his stall when anyone approached. Even his owner, who donated him to the Southern Campus’ Equine Studies Program, was convinced no one could train him.

Phelps proved him wrong. Quiet and patient, she introduced Marty to the human touch through small grooming tasks. Slowly, he responded.

“I had to take my time with him,” says Phelps, who earned a bachelor’s degree in preveterinary medicine from Ohio University in 1999 and an associate’s degree in equine studies this past summer. “Some of the other students’ horses caught on quicker, but because of Marty’s vision handicap, we were a little behind on some milestones.”

Today, Marty is a gentle horse full of personality.

“We knew Rebecca could do it,” says horse barn manager Donita Jones, AAS ’98. “She was quiet and gentle — just what Marty needed.”

The 50 to 60 students who take equine studies courses each quarter discover a newfound relationship with the horses they have come to study. The two-year associate in applied science degrees they are pursuing prepare them for careers as barn managers, horse trainers, equine journalists and horse show or event managers.

Nestled between the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and the Ohio River, the Ohio Horse Park serves as the program’s central nervous system. It sits on more than 180 acres in Franklin Furnace, Ohio, about 15 miles from the Southern Campus in Ironton. The sprawling complex includes a main barn housing 40 horses, a breeding facility, indoor and outdoor riding arenas, extensive trails and a new classroom building.

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