The Cal Poly College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences is once again reminding the public to keep their distance from campus animals after receiving a video of several people trespassing and harassing horses over Memorial Day weekend.
The video shared on their Instagram page showed a young woman attempting to ride one of the yearlings in a pasture near Slack Street.
Others were seen taking pictures and petting the animals.
Staff and students in the program say yearling horses are too young to be ridden and members of the public attempting it can disrupt their future training.
“We work really hard to get these animals prepared to be started under saddle,” said Desi Lammer, a Cal Poly animal science student. “It’s really a rewarding experience to work with them and be able to build that bond and so, seeing students or people mess with that timeline is a little upsetting.”
“It just makes it hard when we have incidents like this,” said Irini Pateras, the Oppenheimer Family Equine Center manager. "Especially when students who are in the classes or are on the equestrian teams are trained and monitored, and supervised, and get to learn so much just to have someone who is not a part of these classes just think they’re having a good time and really cause a problem for us.”
These types of interactions can be dangerous for both the horses and those who are not supposed to be handling them.
“If the horse got scared and ran into the fence or did something to hurt himself, we have no way of telling how dire those injuries could have been or how long-lasting they could have been,” said Pateras. “As well as the individual herself, if she was hurt. I don’t know but I’ve seen the video and it definitely could’ve been worse.”
No public access signs are clearly displayed around the pasture.
“It’s pretty easy to see the posted signage and just be respectful of it,” said Lammer.
“It’s for both the horses and the for those individuals,” said Pateras. “We want everyone to be safe and it’s hard to do that when rules are being broken.”
Staff members say if you want to interact with the horses there are appropriate ways to get involved.
“If you want to come take a peek, admire them from this side of the fence," said Pateras. "Even if you do want to take a selfie from this side of the fence, I'm sure they'll stay in the background."
“Reach out to someone involved at the animal units and get that experience and if it's not something that you're interested in," said Lammer. "Then we just kindly ask that you observe our horses from afar."
The Cal Poly College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences is also asking the public to call campus police if anyone disturbs the horses or other animals on campus.
