Louisiana State University’s (LSU) College of Veterinary Medicine is an exciting place to be right now. The reinvigoration of the personnel and campus are obvious even to the casual observer. But to those who have horses treated there, or who are working at LSU to advance their educations or delve deeper into various equine research projects, there is a palpable air of anticipation that while they are galloping along now, the best days are still to come.

Two building projects, one nearly completed and one proceeding apace, will not only offer horse owners better facilities for their horses being treated at LSU, but contribute to the education of the students. The Equine Lameness and Performance Evaluation Center is a new 125-foot by 75-foot stand-alone facility. This covered pavilion offers an area for evaluating horses on concrete, or on a crushed stone-based arena in hand or under saddle. A farrier’s room, examination room, and holding stalls will be added shortly so that diagnostic techniques can be carried out where horses are jogged (such as diagnostic nerve blocks) and changes can be made in trim or shoe fit.

The equine intensive care unit (ICU) will transform existing space in the hospital into a 10-stall, state-of-the-art ICU. There will be room for six adult horses, three mare/foal combinations, and an orthopedic/neurologic/trauma stall with a sling and hoist. The ICU will be a centralized, climate-controlled facility with remote monitoring and advanced technologies within steps of surgical and other facilities at the hospital.

The dedications and grand openings of these two facilities were held on April 2