POMONA - Cal Poly Pomona's famous W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center is foal -- er, full.

With growing demand for limited barn space, Arabian show horses have had to give up their stalls to mares giving birth. Students with horses join a long waiting list for a stall of their own. With no shelter for feed, the hay bales resting out in the open risk mold when rain comes.

But that is all about to change.

The center will have three new barns in coming months -- the first new buildings in more than 20 years -- thanks to a $173,890 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

"We were very fortunate the foundation felt this was something they wanted to do," said center director Bill Hughes. "We feel it is going to be important for our educational focus and help our students by giving them a place to house their horses."

One of the barns will have 20 stalls for students involved in the school's equine program who want to keep their horses on campus.

"There are a lot of students on the waiting list," said Farm Manager Gerald Liberatore, who said the barn would double the center's boarding capacity.

Many students find it difficult to leave their horses at home and like to have the animals close to provide stress relief while at school, he said.

A second barn will have about 10 foaling stalls. Last year, 13 mares gave birth. This year, 21 will foal, said student employee Kate Smith, and the barn will give them the room they need.

The third barn won't be a home for horses, but will help keep their feed and bedding dry when poor weather conditions return.

Right now, stacks of hay bales are sheltered only by a few large tarps. The center loses many bales, and a lot of money, to moisture and mold each year, Liberatore said.

"There's only so much rain those tarps can keep off of it," Smith said. "That's why the hay barn is going to be extremely nice."

The new barns, which will be built behind the existing facility, will be the first expansions to the center since the building of the Equine Research Center in 1980.

The W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center was dedicated in 1974, bearing the name of the cereal company founder who donated more than half of the property the university occupies today.

At any given time, the center houses 150 to 160 horses, most of which are Arabian. About 35,000 people visit the center each year, Hughes said, many for horse shows held the first Sunday of each month, October through June.

The barns will go before a university design committee for approval later this month.