Scene Depiction: University of Kentucky Research Farm

Research Farm Landscape

Beautiful gates open and I drive onto the dusty road I’ve come to understand as the pathway to the university research farm. There are large fields surrounded with fences, some empty and some filled with animals I cannot yet see from where I am. The grass is dulled and more of a brown than a green, and the trees on the path are dull and barren from the cold. The interstate is to one side of me but as I keep driving it becomes a distant image, for all I can do is focus on the landscape ahead of me. The sun is shining through the clouds providing a dull amount of light on this cold day, but that doesn’t take away of the beauty of the majestic animals I see before me. These large beautiful creatures are standing before me, nuzzling each other, trotting in their pens, or eating some hay. The horses are the true beauty of this farm.

The University of Kentucky research farm is full of large acres of land fenced so that the animals can roam and live comfortably. The majority of the animals that live on the farm are horses, which is easy to see as I drive by. There are fields of horses everywhere, with numbers shaved into their fur. They are fluffy from the winter, with thicker coats to protect themselves from the harsh outside conditions. There are a few pens of miniature ponies, also fluffy from the winter weather causing them to look as though they were fluffy dogs instead of horses. Driving past them I wish I could reach out and pet them, but Shane, an employee on the farm, tells me those aren’t the horses I can pet. Miniature ponies are actually mean animals, and aren’t friendly enough to be pet. As I keep driving I am surprised to see a wild fox walking around and sneaking through the fences. I look at Shane and he lets me know that the fox doesn’t bother the horses and if anything, the horses frighten the fox.

On the research farm, employees have the opportunity to live on the farm as part of the benefits for working for it. Shane, who is an employee on the farm, has a trailer next to the barn that he works for and takes care of the horses in. Outside the barn the air is fresh, but walking into the barn it is not. The area smells of manure, hay, and horses. There are horses in stalls along the walls. The horses that Shane specifically cares for are sick, and though the illnesses aren’t dangerous to humans sadly part of Shane’s job is to put down the horses that need to be put down. The community of employees and researchers here take care of the horses while also using them for research. There are many other areas on the farm like Shane’s where there is a trailer next to the barn that the person cares for. A trailer is provided as part of the job, and comes with their salary. Though there are employees who drive to the farm, there is the opportunity to live there to keep a closer eye on the animals.  

Walking Rico

A horse named Rico is a favorite of the employees, as well as one of my personal favorite horses I met. He is quite large and has a very dark brown coat with a thick black mane. He has AIDS, but has been living with it for 8 years. Living in this community is hard on the employees, because bonds are built with these animals. Petting the horse with his soft nose, nuzzling into my chest, I understand how this would be hard for the people working here. It makes the job much harder, and bonds the employees working together. They work for a common cause, for the research of the university, but that doesn’t make it an easy job. An outsider in this community would look here and think that it was a fun job, getting to play with horses and walk horses around the pen and just pet the beautiful animals. But after I enjoyed playing with these creatures, I realized how hard it would be to let them go.

Mules, Horses, and Donkeys

We walk to another few pens with friendly animals in them, so that I can interact with more of the animals. There is a pen that has a mixture of donkeys, horses and mules (which are a sterile hybrid of donkeys and horses). I am handed a white and red peppermint from Shane, and he tells me that I can offer it to one of the donkeys. At first this scares me, because I am afraid the donkey is going to bite me. I’ve grown up where dogs and cats are the majority of the “pets” I interact with. Though when the donkey takes the peppermint and nudges me, I feel a bit more secure with him. He lowers his ears and I take that as a sign that I can pet him. His dark grey coat is whitened around the age, a sign of age, which also might be cause for his friendliness. A little cream colored mule walks towards me then and seems to demand attention. He is very short, which surprised me too because I thought mules were larger animals. Though I don’t know his age, so I could always be wrong about his size. His fur was soft and I loved petting him.

We then drove around the farm again to see the different parts of the farm. We pass by many pens with female horses, their bellies swollen with pregnancy. A few pens already have a foul that was born early, but the majority of horses aren’t due for a little bit longer. The pen that we stop at with the foul has a pack of horses and one stallion, protecting his “women”. They are a wild herd, so I cannot pet them or get too close. The foul is small compared to the other horses, and as a motherly woman I instantly gush over the horse and wish that I could pet the baby. He is sitting in the pile of hay that the horses are eating from, and his mother sits by. One thing that surprises me about a lot of these horses is that they are lying down. I’ve always heard horses can’t lie down, because of how hard it is for them to get up. But Shane assures me this is normal, because of how pregnant they are and that it is common for them to do this during pregnancy.

Rei petting Sarah

There is a pen close by with non-wild horses that I am allowed to pet. There is a unique horse that was born on the farm and lives in this pen. Her name is Sarah, and she was born without kneecaps. Her coat is white and she barely can reach her head over the pen. She lives with another horse and a miniature pony. I am afraid to pet the pony because I know they are mean animals, but I try and surprisingly I am not bitten. Sarah is very friendly however, and lets me continue to pet her. The air is cold, and my hands freeze while I’m petting these horses but I don’t want to stop. These horses are special, and I love interacting with these animals.

Rei petting an un-named horse

We drive through a pen far away from the rest of these horses. These horses I learned are infected with STDS, but they were not given the disease for research they were given to the farm already having these illnesses. One of the horses stuck his snot out as we were driving by and bit the truck. The horse made me laugh, and I loved the spunkiness of him. I realized that the horse has it’s own personality and seems to be unique, and understanding this helps the understanding of the life on the farm. The employees work with horses that are all unique. They all have unique coats, unique personalities, unique manes, and they all are on the research farm for a unique reason. There is a man taking care of the horses, and I was surprised it was the first person other than us that I physically saw on the farm. The land is so vast, and there are so many people who work on the farm, however a lot of the care happens early in the morning. The horses get fed early, and the rest of the care is spread out during the day. So this isn’t unusual. Also the majority of the horses who do need more constant care live inside the barns, and that’s another reason that there is a lack of people seen on the farm.

Understanding the life of one of the employees on the farm makes it understandable that they are given a home here. They have to wake up early to feed their animals, and take care of them. They grow a bond with these animals and not only do they care for them, but it makes the job not as tough. Though there are aspects of this job that are hard, being able to care for these animals is important. While it is fun to visit the farm and pet the animals, I understand that there is a deeper community of people who work together for the benefit of these animals and for the farm in general. They work to advance the research of the University of Kentucky and overall, to benefit the community at large. 

Scene Depiction: University of Kentucky Research Farm

Driving past a fence of horses

My big sister in my sorority recently started dating someone who worked on the research farm, and so I decided to do my scene depiction there. I've not been on a farm often, growing up in the city, and I thought this would be a good community to research for my scene depiction.

Taking a drive around the farm, there are many different fenced areas, with short grass not yet greened with the spring, and different animals in different areas. The majority of the animals I see are horses, mares with bellies swollen and ready to foul, stallions trotting and huddling for warmth, and a few mares already birthed and protecting their foul. There are other animals I see too, miniature ponies huddled together and even donkeys. They fences are different sizes, holding different amounts of horses in each one and hay piled on the ground. The horses come to the fence as the car drives by, as we stop by a fence and they come to greet us. 

Horses, mules, and donkeys greetings

Sitting by the fence I take in a certain specific surrounding. The smell surprises me, for it doesn't smell like manure and animals like I thought. Though that smell does have the traces of animals, especially when I am sitting close to them. The air seems fresh though it hints of the smells of animals, and relaxes me. The environment around the animals make me feel happy, and it's hard to describe it because all I wanna do is pet the horses that are coming toward me. These horses are many different colors; black, white, brown, cream, tan. Each horse surprised me by how fluffy it was, but I found out that was because of the cold weather.

The air is cold, and chills my hands. One of my little sisters came with me, she's giggling as the horses bite at her and nuzzle into her chest. My big and her boyfriend are doing a few chores, since this is his job on the farm to take care of the horses. It's relaxing sitting here and listening to the horses neighing and the donkey's braying. 

Rei petting horse: He liked me

Petting the horses I got to feel their winter coats, harsh but soft in some areas. Their noses felt like peach fuzz, and they loved being pet.

The community of the University of Kentucky research farm seems to be a network of workers who take care of these animals and work to keep them happy and healthy. The animals are used for research, and also for breeding. They have a happy life on the farm and I hope to learn more about it. 

Graffiti Documentary

The Claw's Signature 

I chose claw because she has a unique mark, like a signature, and she uses graffiti to sum up who she was as a unique individual. Also I enjoy when women put themselves out there like she did, and though Toomer was a better artist, her message appealed to me. I also do this through my art, however my tag is just the signature at the bottom of my paintings. Her graffiti gave her a connection to her surroundings through art, and she specifically stated that it taught her work ethic, respect, and life skills. I disagree with the fact that this is her life, and that she has gotten in trouble with the law. That lowers her credibility slightly, however I still believe her message is important.

She differs from the other artists because she wants her name to be out there, it’s not necessarily for a tag or just for destruction, and she believes that the stamp is right and that it needs to be everywhere, but it’s not for the same reasons as the others. Her emotions are wrapped into her graffiti, she easily persuades us into loving the tag and seeing it as a good thing. While there are other artists who can persuade us to see the art, she makes it more than graffiti. It is a symbol that she uses everyday and it describes who she is. Though the reasoning behind all graffiti is valid, it is not necessarily right to destroy public property without the owner’s consent, so to that extent I believe that Joe is right. However I understand the need to put your name out there, as an artist I know the value of making art, I know the value of a signature. The credibility of all the people in this movie is relevant, though not every way is right, it is their way of doing it. While the credibility of Earsnot personally does not appeal to me, there is at least some reasoning behind it.

As an artist I feel I can view graffiti as an illegal form of expression, as my paintings are an expression of me. Though it isn’t legal, it’s still how the artist expresses themselves, and that is always a positive way to look at it. Ethos, logos, and pathos describe not only the graffiti, but every artist themselves. 

Rhetorical Situation Graffiti Assignment

Whitehall graffiti: on a fraternity flier

If this is hard to see, there is a big "no" circled, and "I'll always be a sister", then the inappropriate comment is easy to see. Due to this graffiti the writer would potentially be a gdi (or someone who is not a greek) who wrote no. This could be stated because they don't want to join the fraternity. Obviously it is a woman, since this is the woman's restroom. Then the "I'll always be a sister" is probably written by a sorority girl, who loves her chapter. Then another woman would have been the one to write the inappropriate comment who thinks greek life is dumb.
The readers of this graffiti would be anyone who used the restroom and saw this. Though this would potentially not change the opinion of those who were interested in the fraternity, it is humorous.
The message of these different graffiti is that they do not want to join the fraternity, and they think it is dumb. Though this is an obvious message, the fact that they felt the need to write about it is funny.
The context of the message is that they are not happy with greek life or this new fraternity. This is really obvious though, being a greek however I find this offensive. Being a member of the greek community, every organization is important. Even the non-social fraternities deserve respect as well. While this is very minimally graffiti, it still is very inappropriate yet seemingly funny to others, graffiti.