By 6:30 a.m., animal science senior Jaimie Knode is already at the Cal Poly equine unit, cleaning stalls, saddling horses and riding before the rest of campus has fully started its day.
That routine repeats nearly every day of the week, all building toward a single moment, when the horses she trains will be sold at auction. “I’m putting in 35 to 40 hours a week,” Knode said.
Through Cal Poly’s Quarter Horse Enterprise Program, students spend nearly 20 weeks training university-bred horses while preparing them for the program’s annual public auction. This year’s sale is set for May 30 as it marks its 30th anniversary, one milestone within Cal Poly’s larger equine program, which dates back more than a century.
READ MORE ABOUT CAL POLY’S EQUINE PROGRAM
According to Cal Poly’s Animal Science, the horse unit, which would later turn into the Quarter Horse Enterprise Program was established in 1903. Coming just two years after the California Polytechnic School opened to its first students, the program helped pioneer the “Learn by Doing” philosophy that continues into 2026.
By the 1940s, Cal Poly began breeding Thoroughbreds with support from the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, which provided resources and annual stallion services that helped keep the program aligned with industry standards. In its early years, the program relied heavily on donations, including a mare named Bon Eva, given to Cal Poly by crooner Bing Crosby.
In 1978 Animal Science faculty member Jack Leslie and six students started selling Cal Poly-bred Quarter Horses at major futurity competitions, including the World Champion Bit Futurity (for young horses) and the Pacific Coast Cutting Futurity, thus establishing the Quarter Horse Enterprise Program. Alongside the Quarter Horse Enterprise Program, the Ranch Horse Enterprise was developed in 1986 following the donation of 10 Quarter Horse fillies. This donation established a broodmare herd of ranch-bred horses and diversified the program’s offerings beyond a primary focus on performance horses. The two programs eventually merged, and by 1996, the auction was brought to Cal Poly.
Working up to seven days a week, students train the horses while also organizing the sale. This consists of managing social media, securing sponsors and connecting with prospective buyers. This mirrors responsibilities in the equine industry itself.
Over months of daily riding, training and care, that commitment often turns into something more personal.
“The students fall in love with their horses,” Program Advisor Lou Moore-Jacobsen said. “So you’ll see it on sale day. If they were lucky enough to buy them themselves, they’ll be in tears. But if they’re also sold, then they’re in tears as well, because they’re not going to see that horse again.”
After spending the morning riding and training, Knode’s work as a student manager transitions to running the sale itself, a process that starts months in advance and continues alongside daily horse care.
“We started working over the summer, just getting things laid out, figuring out what horses we even had that were going to be in the program,” Knode said.
Knode and the managers take on the logistics of a full-scale production. She coordinates photographers, plans social media outreach and helps organize the online action by building profiles for each horse.
Knode also works with vendors, sponsors and equine companies to secure donations and support for the sale.
“I think what a lot of people don’t realize is that this is like a very student-run enterprise,” Knode said. “And I think people think of it as like, Oh, we’re just, like, training the horses, and so we’re just riding the horses every day.”
Enterprise advisor, Moore-Jacobsen said the workload extends far beyond scheduled class time.
“This is a seven-day-a-week project for them,” Moore-Jacobsen said. “It’s not, you know, go to class from eight to 10, and you’re done.”
For the 22 students in the program, the experience goes beyond training horses. “Our assignments are like real life,” Knode said.
Getting accepted into the program
Taking care of an animal full-time comes with an extensive time commitment and a set of qualifications.
Animal science senior, Tulah Keplinger grew up around horses in Marin County and learned about Cal Poly’s equine program through family members who attended the university. She has always wanted to be in the program and soon became familiar with the major prerequisite course to get approved for the Quarter Horse Enterprise.
Students must take Beginning Riding (ASCI 214), Advanced Riding (ASCI 344) and Colt Starting (ASCI 345), which focuses on getting young horses comfortable under a saddle, to prepare them for the course. If students have riding experience, they can skip ASCI 214.
Moore-Jacobsen decides who gets into the Quarter Horse Enterprise Course based on the prerequisite classes. Students are surveilled during the prerequisites to meet the standards of handling the horses and coursework materials, as well as their riding ability.
Upon acceptance, Moore-Jacobsen and the four student managers match the students with their designated horses through a questionnaire and observations from past courses.
These questions help the instructor and managers get a clearer sense of each rider’s confidence level, how they react to pressure and what kind of horse they are likely to work with best.
“It’s not like a science or anything. It’s just kind of like, ‘Oh, let’s see how this kind of works out,” Keplinger said.
Building relationships
Keplinger was matched with CP (Cal Poly bred) Rhinestone Cowboy, or “Banjo,” at the start of the winter quarter.
Over time, the daily routine and care turned into a bond that felt more like a personal relationship than a class assignment.
“Right now, it’s like he feels like my horse, like, obviously, I am not his owner, but I see him seven days a week. Our relationship is very close,” she said.
Keplinger said hers and Banjo’s personalities are compatible because his steady energy complements her relaxed riding tendencies, making him the perfect ranch horse.
“He could work with your cows, he could go on trails, he could check fencing, you could throw your kids on him… he can just be your like, trustworthy everything horse,” Keplinger said.
Knode was matched with two horses, Banner Cowboy, or “Banner” and CP Sweet Baby Ray, or “Ray.”
Knode calls Banner “a little bit of like an old soul,” noting that “he’s been pretty quiet to start so far, and he’s been really sweet,” and is “just kind of an easy-going guy.”
Ray contrasts sharply because she “had a lot more attitude at first, and was a little sassy,” Knode said. “We should have called her Saucy, because it’s Sweet Baby Ray,” though now “she’s actually really sweet and has come around really nicely so far.”
Those differences show up in the arena. According to Knode, Banner is easy going and willing with new skills, while Ray requires more patience and careful timing when being pushed further in her training.
Building that kind of trust and understanding doesn’t happen overnight; it’s the product of a structured, months-long training process.
Phases of training
Phase I
Once students are paired with their horse(s), they begin phase one of training, which consists of pre-riding and ground work.
During this two-three week period, students begin that relationship with them by bringing them from the pasture daily to train “round-pen work,” which consists of moving their feet, gaining focus, and building a mutual level of respect for each other on the ground.
Phase II
Phase two gently introduces a rider to the horse to help them get accustomed to having someone on their back. Each ride is around 10-to-20 minutes with simple expectations over a three to four week period.
“They don’t know how to do anything, so you don’t make them do anything. Just kind of getting a feel for someone on their back,” Keplinger said.
Phase III
Phase three teaches horses to become more proficient in their abilities as a performance horse. Students ask them to hold themselves correctly, articulate their balance and “move off pressure,” a directional technique that gets horses to yield from gentle human contact.
Phase IV
Phase four begins the spring quarter and consists of full-time responsibility, giving their horse time to move around outside the barn.
The goal during this phase is to refine the horse’s responsiveness, relaxation in various environments such as the arena, round pen and trails.
Phase V
Phase five consists of clinics, preview days, and sale preparation. The goal is to polish each horse so they’re attractive, rideable and ready for buyers. Experienced trainers come in to help students fine-tune the horse’s skills.
“We only have about six months or so at tops. So we just try to expose them to a lot, desensitize them,” Keplinger said. “It’s our job to make sure they’re comfortable, happy, well‑balanced horses for whatever home they go off to.”
May 9 and 29 are the programs preview dates, so students can present their horses’ potential while buyers can get a feel for their options.
The final weeks
Buyers come from across the country, including Oregon, Washington and Texas, but the program remains closely tied to the local community. Many buyers are familiar with the program’s “Bar P” brand, a mark on each horse that signifies Poly-raised and trained.
For SLO County resident Suzie Madonna, the annual sale has become a traditional event.
“It’s exciting to come and watch the horses and see how they advance and how they train and you know, it’s just, it’s a great program all the way around,” Madonna said.
Madonna has purchased two horses from the program, both trained and shown by her daughter, Serafina, a senior agricultural communications major and student rider in the enterprise.
“It’s fantastic, it’s been life-changing for our family,” Madonna said.
The 2025 sale brought in over $366,000 with the over average price of individually sold horses being around $15,000.
For families like the Madonnas, the sale is a chance to welcome a well-started horse into their lives. For the students, it’s a handoff.
On sale day, May 30, students will watch horses they spent months training move on to new owners. “We are all as a team just putting so much time, like blood, sweat and tears literally, into the horses,” Keplinger said.
Rather than an emotional farewell, Knode viewed this transition as an empowering experience.“At the end of these two quarters, they’re going off to a different home,” Knode said. “For me, I just want to create a good horse to have a good home.”
That goal of training a horse to be a “good horse” is how Knode defines success. As the May 30 sale approaches, students alongside Knode and Keplinger in this program will present and watch the horses they have spent months training to move on to new owners.
“I would do it again next year in a heartbeat,” Keplinger said.
