Equine instructor brings her competitive experience to USU
If you take a class from Patricia Evans be prepared to get your hands dirty.
Students in Evans’ horse production class are dissecting legs of horses killed in a slaughterhouse, observing a necropsy on a horse’s digestive tract and using colored chalk to draw skeletal and muscular systems on live horses.
“My favorite lab was the leg dissection where we got to see how everything works together,” Miken Davis, a junior majoring in bioveterinary science, said.
Evans is Utah State University’s Equine Extension Specialist. She helps organize and stage events for horse owners and 4-H participants across Utah.
“Our goal is to provide clinics and seminars to help youth and adults enhance the horse industry within the state,” Evans said.
This is her first year teaching here at USU.
Along with horse production she teaches horse management and co-teaches a colt training class in the department of animal, dairy and veterinary science.
She previously taught at Clemson University in South Carolina for eight years before coming to USU.
Evans grew up in Manchester, N.H., not far from a local stable where she worked as a teenager and fell in love with horses. After graduating high school she attended Fulmer International School of Equitation in South Carolina where she received training in competitive dressage, jumping and horse management. For the next 10 years she worked across the country training horses and managing farms.
However, Evans wanted something more.
“At 28 I decided I could get hurt tomorrow and I only had a high school degree,” she said.
Evans enrolled at North Carolina State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science and a master’s in physiology. She received a doctorate in education from Clemson University in South Carolina. There she taught and managed the horse farm for eight years before deciding on a career move to Logan.
Evans said she loves working here at USU.
“Everyone here is so positive and supportive,” she said. “The staff is really friendly and they will help you with anything.”
Evans best students are those who are actively involved in the learning process.
“I don’t want my students to sit there like a lump on a log,” said Evans.
To avoid being labeled a “lump,” Evans advises students to participate and ask questions.
Evans enjoys watching the interaction between students and horses. “There are never two days alike,” Evans said.
Evans has 10 years experience training horses in western-pleasure and hunter-under-saddle events. Her No. 1 rule for trainers is to be patient.
“The greatest reward from training horses is to see the horse click and know he understands what you’re asking,” Evans said.
On top of her lifelong work with horses she is a veteran skydiver, with 112 jumps under her belt.
“I don’t really like the plane ride and I don’t really like the parachute ride,” she said. “It’s the 60-second freefall, it’s the coolest thing in the world. Nothing can touch that.”
Evans also enjoys other adventurous outdoor activities such as whitewater rafting and cross-country skiing.
Evans takes pleasure in spending time at home in Logan with her father and her two dogs. Utah is much prettier than South Carolina, she said, because of the mountains. She also appreciates the lack of humidity and the convence of living in Cache Valley.
“Everything is within 3 miles of my home,” she said.
Evans tries to pass along her enthusiasm and passion for what she teaches to her students. She strives to be a good educator though creative teaching methods. Her students agree they learn better because they participate in labs and have hands-on experiences.
“When you do things hands on you commit it to memory,” Davis said.
Beau Beck, a junior majoring in bioveterinary science, said, “Dr. Evans has a broad knowledge of management, everything from feeding to breeding.”
-nnaylor@cc.usu.edu