Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) is investing £310,000 in an equine skills centre.
The rural college says the new facility, which will be located at its Craibstone campus on the outskirts of Aberdeen, will benefit horse enthusiasts, students and the wider Scottish equine industry.
It said the £310k investment will create a facility with new stables for up to six horses, a manége, equipment storage and supporting facilities for students.
“Horse husbandry, training and business management skills are in high demand,” said SRUC north faculty dean Professor Caroline Argo.
“We’re delighted to be able to offer more opportunities for students to help them enter and flourish within the equine industry.”
Prof Argo said the college will be seeking planning permission for the project in the next couple of months, with a view to having most of the centre completed by the end of the summer in time for the arrival of the first cohort of students on its equine studies courses.
The manége will be completed later in the autumn.
Prof Argo said the equine centre investment followed the announcement of wider expansion plans for the campus.
The plans came under fire at an NFU Scotland virtual meeting last week, where the union’s north-east chairman Andrew Connon said they lacked detail and any mention of “core agriculture”.