They didn’t paw the ground or snort with impatience, but when they got going the team of Percherons pranced along at a clip that had photographers scrambling to keep up. Decked out in well-coiffed manes and tails, the 1,800-pound black horses stole the show as they not only broke ground for the University of Minnesota’s new Equine Center but plowed the soil into deep, straight furrows.

Located on the northeast corner of the St. Paul campus and due for completion in fall 2007, the center will transform the ability of the University’s College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) to care for horses and discover new ways to diagnose and treat their ailments.

The crowd at the groundbreaking was packed with joyful horse owners, including University President Bob Bruininks and his wife, Susan Hagstrum, both of whom exhibited unbridled enthusiasm for the project. Also watching the August 9 ceremony were Jess Mendel and Marianne Scheel of the University Police Department’s mounted patrol.

But no one was more ecstatic than Stephanie Valberg, DVM, PhD, director of the Equine Center