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Growing up in southern Colorado, he camped with his faithful Arabian, Bianca, along nearby mountain trails. He rode broncos in the local rodeo. At Colorado State University, he played polo. And armed with a degree in equine science, he headed for horse-rich Kentucky, where he worked with the Breeders’ Cup, the Jockey Club and the American Association of Equine Practitioners.

But in a professional career spent exclusively around stables, little has compared with rescuing hundreds of horses after Hurricane Katrina.

“We were surprised at how many calls came in,” says Mortensen, age 35, director of advancement for the Equine Health Studies Program at LSU’s School of Veterinary Medicine. After the storm, panicked horse owners called the vet school pleading for help. “They told us they’d left their horses behind with a few days worth of food, figuring they’d be home by then. They asked us to get them out.”

Mortensen and his colleagues scribbled down addresses and drove to New Orleans with trailers and supplies. Many horses were found miles from home. They had swum to high ground. Some were injured by packs of wayward dogs. The ones who had been tied up had drowned. In the end, the team rescued 500 horses. Almost all were ultimately reunited with their owners.

Mortensen is passionate about promoting the work of the Equine Program, which features the only full-service hospital in the region. It’s an important asset for the state, where horse-related businesses spin off $2.45 billion annually. “Louisiana is fourth in the nation in terms of the industry’s economic impact,” says Mortensen. That may seem surprising, but he says here horses are popular across a wide socio-economic spectrum. It’s not just the wealthy; it’s everyday people enjoying rodeos, races, and riding along levies.

Horses are often used in therapy for disabled children and accident victims, something Mortensen loves to promote. One vet school researcher is creating a baseline model of a horse’s back, which will help match recovering accident victims with an appropriate-sized animal. It’s invaluable data, because proper riding posture can speed recovery.

Mortensen recently told the vet school’s horse rescue story through a multi-media event he produced called Sound, a reference to both the condition of a horse when it’s well and to music, which Mortensen loves. (He plays both the piano and guitar.) The event was held at the Shaw Center and included hundreds of images set to pieces of music played live by the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra. The crowd saw the story unfold, from the dismal conditions in which horses were found to tearful reunions with owners.

“There’s a great quote that says ‘The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a person,’” says Mortensen. “I think that’s what horses do to people—evoke emotion.”