The 80 acre farm is located near Adrian in Lenawee County, which has the highest horse population of all Michigan counties. The center offers four student internships per semester. Spring interns assist with reproductive management of Merillat mares and stallions. Summer interns trains and prepare young horses for the summer show season, and fall inters fit and train sale horses for the World Quarter Horse Sale in Oklahoma City, an international event.
Interns are also responsible for the feeding and general health care of the horses.
The center offers excellent field research opportunities in equine growth and development, exercise physiology, nutrition, reproductive physiology, animal behavior and welfare, and facility design. Currently, the MSU Equine Team, a group of collaborating scientists from various disciplines, is investigating how horses physically adapt to training at the beginning of a training program. The Merillat Center also conducts reproductive short courses for veterinarians and horse producers, providing training in the most up to date practices in reproduction, nutrition, and management. The Merillat Center will be used as a model for land use issues involving manure management, pasture management, and fly control. Stallions Leaguers Shadow, a 16.2 hand black stallion owned by Michigan State University, excelled as a Western Pleasure horse, and is proving to be an outstanding sire.