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.