The W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center is a research facility on the campus of the

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona, CPP, or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in San Luis Obispo. See the '' name'' section of this article for more info ...

(Cal Poly Pomona) which specializes on equine studies, breeding and research.

History

The horse center dates back to 1925.

W.K. Kellogg William Keith Kellogg (April 7, 1860 – October 6, 1951), generally referred to as W.K. Kellogg, was an American industrialist in food manufacturing, best known as the founder of the Kellogg Company, which produces a wide variety of popular ...

had a longtime interest in

Arabian horse The Arabian or Arab horse ( ar, الحصان العربي , DIN 31635, DMG ''ḥiṣān ʿarabī'') is a horse breed, breed of horse that originated on the Arabian Peninsula. With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the Arabian is ...

s, and purchased for $250,000 in

Pomona, California Pomona is a city in Los Angeles County, California. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 151,713. The main campus of California State Polyte ...

, to establish a

ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

. After erecting the first buildings, Kellogg funded the development of an

breeding program, which (as of 2008) remains the oldest in the United States and the fifth largest in the country. Starting with breeding stock descended from the imports of

Homer Davenport Homer Calvin Davenport (March 8, 1867 – May 2, 1912) was a political cartoonist and writer from the United States. He is known for drawings that satirized figures of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, most notably Ohio Senator Mark Hanna. Alth ...

and W.R. Brown, Kellogg then looked to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where he purchased a significant number of horses from the

Crabbet Arabian Stud The Crabbet Arabian Stud, also known as the Crabbet Park Stud, was an English horse breeding farm that ran from 1878 to 1972. Its founder owners, husband and wife team Wilfrid Scawen Blunt and Lady Anne Blunt, decided while travelling in the Mid ...

, making multiple importations during the 1920s. The Kellogg ranch became well known in southern California not only for its

horse breeding Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in ...

program but also for its entertaining, weekly horse exhibitions, open to the public and frequently visited by assorted Hollywood celebrities. Among many other connections to Hollywood, the actor

Rudolph Valentino Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor based in the United States who starred ...

borrowed the Kellogg stallion, "Jadaan," for use in his 1926 movie, ''

Son of the Sheik ''The Son of the Sheik'' is a 1926 American silent adventure/drama film directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring Rudolph Valentino and Vilma Bánky. The film is based on the 1925 romance novel ''The Sons of the Sheik'' by Edith Maude Hull, a ...

'', along with a Kellogg employee,

Carl Raswan Carl Reinhard Raswan (7 March 1893 – 14 October 1966), born Carl Reinhard Schmidt, was one of the greatest connoisseurs and patrons of the '' asil'' Arabian horse. He authored numerous books on Arabian horses and the Bedouin people who raised t ...

, who rode in certain scenes as Valentino's stunt double. In 1932, Kellogg donated the ranch, which had grown to to the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

system. It was until 1943, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, that the ranch was taken over by the

U.S. War Department The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...

and was known as the Pomona Quartermaster Depot (Remount). In 1948, the ranch was transferred to the

U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

; and in 1949, the land was deeded to the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Later in 1949, Kellogg donated the ranch to the state of California, requiring that the property would be used for educational purposes, the herd of Arabian horses must be maintained, and the horse shows would continue. Title to the then ranch and horses was passed to the State of California. Kellogg's old horse stables, Cal Poly, Pomona, CA

Kellogg's old horse stables, Cal Poly, Pomona, CA

The ranch became part of the Voorhis unit of what was then known as the California Polytechnic State College in

San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly hal ...

. This became known as the Kellogg Campus, and in 1966, it was separated to form California State Polytechnic College Pomona (now

). The Center occupied the original Kellogg stables prior to the dedication of the existing facility on April 6, 1974. This was also the location of the W.K. Kellogg Airport (not to be confused with the W. K. Kellogg Airport in

Battle Creek, Michigan Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, Michigan, Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle C ...

). It operated from 1928 to 1932, and was then the largest privately owned airport in the country.

Today

Today the facility is home to approximately 85 purebred Arabian horses used in Equine Sciences’ teachings, outreach, research and internationally recognized breeding and training programs. Facilities at the center include of pasture, three barns, foaling stalls, a breeding area, a veterinary clinic, a farrier shop, four arenas and a grandstand. The University operates the W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library, which is open to the public.

References

External links

W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center
{{coord, 34.058958, N, 117.815108, W, display=title California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Organizations based in Pomona, California Arabian breeders and trainers Horse farms in the United States Research at Cal Poly Pomona Myron Hunt buildings Former Seventh-day Adventist institutions 1925 establishments in California

History

Today

See also

References

External links