Wilson Welcomes New Director of Equine Studies

Dr. Jance Holland joined Wilson this fall as associate professor and director of equine studies. She teaches, oversees academic programs and equine facilities and works with athletics for the riding teams, as well as doing community outreach and supervising internships.

As a little girl, Holland always liked horses. As an undergraduate at Penn State, she wanted to be a farm manager until a professor suggested she look at animal studies. That led her to Virgina Tech to get her master’s and doctorate in animal studies with a specialization in equine science. From the time she was an undergraduate, Holland said, she knew she wanted to work at Wilson. When the opportunity arose, she moved from Kentucky to be closer to family.

Nessa Hake, a first-year student studying equine facilities management, echoed Holland’s decision for enrolling at Wilson. “I visited two other schools and liked how much the horses were in the pasture here and how they were treated,” she said. “Wilson was close to home, it had a small campus and I’d heard good reviews of the equine major.”

Holland teaches Intro to Equine Management and Equine Health Management. Next semester, she will teach Equine Anatomy/Physiology and Equine Facility Management. She would like to add classes on equine nutrition, equine reproduction, equine behavior and special topics in equine issues.

Hake said she would love to take a special topics course. “I would like to see classes on equine liberty and studying the wild mustangs.”

Hearing about Holland’s vision for the program, first-year equine studies student Katreena Jones said she would love “anything on horses” that will make her “a better horse owner and manager.”

Before joining Wilson, Holland taught and worked with nonprofit organization Equine Land Conservation Resource. Holland is also a skilled hunter/jumper and has done dressage and pole bending. She has three cats, Penny, Eddy and Rowdy, and her favorite horse breed is the thoroughbred. In her spare time, she writes for equine magazines.

Besides its equine facilities, Holland’s favorite thing about Wilson is its campus where she immediately felt at home. She loves working with students.