MIDWAY, Ky. — Winter break is here for most college students and for many it means no school and sleeping in. But in Woodford County, a group of students at Midway University are spending their break working in the barn every day.
At Midway University, every winter, summer and fall break, a small group of students in the school’s equine program use their breaks taking care of the 34 horses in the university’s herd.
While many Midway University students finished their finals last week and are relaxing before spring semester, one group of students is coming to Midway’s equestrian center by 7 a.m. every day.
“Someone has to take care of the horses daily and they don’t get a winter break like we do,” said freshman Emily Sue Watts.
Watts and her classmates clean and maintain the barns for Midway’s horses; some of which the university owns and others staying on loan from other owners.
“In the morning we come in and put shavings into the stalls for cleanliness and absorbency and we make sure they have fresh water every morning,” Watts said.
The horses are here both for education and the university’s riding teams. Since horses can’t clean themselves, they get daily mane and hoof cleaning.
“The hooves get really compacted with dirt and manure from being turned out in the field so picking them out we can check on the hooves and see if there’s anything wrong with them and clear them out so it doesn’t become compacted and cause other problems,” Watts said.
Hauling hay to feed the horses and getting them out of their stall and exercising or what they call lunging.
“It will keep them in shape and it could be for us to evaluate the overall movement of the horse to see if there’s any lameness, see how sound it is,” said senior Jayden Hamilton.
Hamilton says the horses will lunge for 15-20 minutes. He grew up with horses and takes any opportunity he can to care for and be around them.
“For people like myself that like to ride but not on the riding team; it’s a good opportunity to get on the horse and learn something new,” Hamilton said.
It’s early mornings, sacrificing time off. Dean of Equine and Sport studies Mark Gill at Midway said they are skills that will pay off in the long run.
“A lot of students arrive at school having had horses as a hobby growing up or having an interest in horses and part of our goal is to help them develop their professional work ethic,” Gill said.
The equine education program is getting ready to celebrate its 50th year on campus, that’ll be next year.
Midway has Equestrian Western and Equestrian Hunt Seat teams that compete in the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association.