One of the most picturesque sites at Cal Poly is at the San Luis Obispo university’s front entrance where a herd of horses often graze under the shaded trees, delighting passersby.

But the horses are for looking, not touching.

This past weekend, some people were a little too taken with the scene and not only climbed into the pasture with the horses, but tried to ride them as well.

A video shared by the Cal Poly College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences on Instagram on Tuesday night showed a student sitting on the bare back of one of the 15 horses at the Grand Avenue and Slack Street pasture before it bucked her off onto the ground.

Other videos showed more students in the enclosure petting and taking photos and videos with the horses.

“The College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences would like to share a friendly but stern reminder that visitors from the public are NOT allowed inside animal units — including fenced enclosures — without expressed permission,” CAFES wrote in the Instagram post.

The college said the incident happened over the weekend when several groups of students climbed over fences and into the pasture “to harass a herd of yearling horses.” It added yearling horses are “young horses, barely toddlers.”

The post listed several safety reminders for the community to warn them against attempting similar things in the future.

“These horses do not want to be in your selfies,” the post read. “They DEFINITELY don’t want you climbing on top of them. It is extremely dangerous.”

According to the post, the young horses are not big enough to bear a human’s weight, though at 500 pounds they are large enough to injure a person if they kick, step on, run over or throw them off. The post also advised against feeding the horses because they are on a “carefully managed nutrition plan and should not be fed outside foods.”

“Cal Poly is not a petting zoo,” the post added.

The post concluded with a reminder that anyone who climbs over the fencing around the pasture is trespassing.

“If you see anyone doing anything questionable, please call campus police immediately at 805-756-2281 for the safety of our animals and the public,” the post read.

In a statement Wednesday afternoon, CAFES director of communications AnnMarie Cornejo said public access to the university’s animal spaces “is limited to ensure the safety of our livestock, students, faculty and staff and the public.”

“Faculty, staff and students are actively engaged in classes, labs and research as well as in the ongoing care of the college’s livestock, and it is essential for the health and safety of all that outside exposure is limited,” Cornejo told The Tribune. “While we love actively engaging with the public and showcasing the hard work our students engage in daily, we must be thoughtful in how we approach it. Our greatest desire is to ensure the safety of everyone involved — both of our livestock and the people who engage with it.”

Cornejo noted there have been a number of other incidents involving the university’s horses in the past year, including cyclists riding through the equine unit and spooking horses while students are working with them.

One horse was also found with a fishing lure embedded in its neck that had to be surgically removed, she said. The lure had mistakenly been left behind by a group that had been illegally fishing in a campus reservoir near the equine unit.

The university has also had trouble with members of the public feeding horses at various locations throughout campus, she said.

“Much of what is fed to the horses is challenging for them to digest and can be a choking hazard,” Cornejo said. “For example, and not many people know this, whole carrots should never be fed to a horse. Our livestock are on a carefully managed nutrition plan and should not be fed outside foods.”