When you get to grad school, you (presumably) expect to just have to take care of yourself – make your own food (or order UberEats), get yourself to school and do your research, maybe work on the side. But this is not the case if you own a horse. If you own them, you know; if you don’t, they are the neediest roommates on the planet. They require feeding two or three times a day; if you are lucky, you have found a barn that feeds. If not, it’s up at 6 and back again at 6 to feed and grain this money-sucking machine. They require their stalls cleaned, feet checked, and need to be exercised regularly. They come down with a cold?  Medication twice a day for 14 days and you can bet half of that medication and whatever vehicle you choose to try and persuade your horse to eat it (applesauce, molasses, water in a syringe) will wind up on you. It’s a little windy and cold out? You best believe that 40-minute ride you had scheduled will now be a 2-hour schooling session where you try and hang on for dear life while your horse decides that the trees are now flesh-eating monsters, and instead of 1 horsepower he is now a 2000-horsepower mustang that cannot be tamed.
 
 
That paper you were going to work on…that’s not happening today.
 
That pedicure they require every 6 weeks that costs $100 and your hopes of ever getting a new grill on your truck after said horse kicked it in said cold and windy weather, well one of those fancy shoes is now lost in a field and it will cost only a little more money and a bit more of your sanity to get it back on. 
 
 
Now, if a human roommate was this needy, we would want something in return, right? Or at least some compensation for our hard work, time, and money going towards this relationship. 
 
That’s possible with a horse, for sure! Go to a show or trail riding with friends. You will only need a tin can (trailer) your horse believes isn’t large enough to hold sardines and refuses to enter. An entry fee for the show that seemed like a good idea at the time “for experience and fun,” but now you have to eat rice and broccoli for the next two weeks. And of course, once you get to the show, your horse will shriek SO LOUD for all the friends you had him leave back at the barn, it’s a miracle your truck windows haven’t shattered from the decibels. It’s the most fun any horseman could hope for.    
 
 
So yes, they are the neediest and most sensitive roommates on the planet, but somehow life wouldn’t be the same without them. 
 
– Kaelanne Quinonez
 
Kaelanne is a master’s student in the Department of Ranchland, Wildlife & Fisheries Management.