The Malone Family Foundation, led by media magnate and philanthropist John C. Malone, has donated $6 million to Colorado State University’s (CSU) Orthopaedic Research Center to significantly advance the center’s research and clinical expertise in equine sports medicine and rehabilitation.

The gift will establish the Leslie A. Malone Presidential Chair in Equine Sports Medicine and will expand the Orthopaedic Research Center’s pioneering Equine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Program by supporting an additional faculty member and resident. The faculty member to hold the chair has not yet been named.

“We are grateful for the Malone Family Foundation’s substantial gift, and for the foresight of John and Leslie Malone, who understand the importance of supporting leading-edge teaching, research, and clinical service in equine sports medicine and rehabilitation,” CSU President Tony Frank, DVM, PhD, said. “This gift will help Colorado State to advance a new veterinary specialty that is critical to the health of equine athletes and the horse industry.”

The donation represents a marriage of interests: Leslie Malone, who runs Harmony Sporthorses in Kiowa, Colo., among other international horse operations, has been committed for nearly two decades to boosting the prestige of dressage in the United States through focused horse breeding and training programs. She has worked with multiple Olympians—both horses and riders—and raises Hanoverian, Oldenburg, and Dutch Warmblood sport horses