Students, staff, and faculty welcomed a new resident early on the morning of Tuesday, June 11. The newest addition at the 131-acre UMass Equine and Livestock Research and Education Farm in Hadley is a Hanoverian foal named "Stockbridge Sonnet UM" (lovingly nicknamed "Levi" as the barn name).
Stockbridge Sonnet was born at 12:29am out of Elite Hanoverian mare "Alessandra Q" (donated to UMass Amherst by Suzanne Quarles of Some Day Soon Farm in Mount Airy, Maryland) and by FEI Grand Prix dressage stallion "Schroeder" (owned by Kathy Hickerson of Majestic Gaits in Brookline, New Hampshire).
The foaling crew included Rob Navaroli (Sustainable Food & Farming '19), Rebecca Lotane (Equine Management '16), Haleigh Tyerman (Animal Sciences '22) and Vanessa Cote (Animal Sciences '21). They chose the name to honor Levi Stockbridge, the first professor of agriculture at Massachusetts Agricultural College (now UMass), and also as a special salute to the Stockbridge School of Agriculture at the University which this summer will turn over management of the equine program at the school to the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences.
