A Busy Couple of Weeks

The past two weeks have been busy, fun-filled, and informational for this communications intern!

Last Friday, the equine dentist came out to take a look at some of the new horses. Phoebe, Rugby, and Louie were the main three on his list to visit. As someone who has never really seen an equine dentist at work, it was an extremely interesting morning. Victor Torres (the MMSC’s dentist-of-choice) showed me the inside of the horse’s mouth, explaining to me what the issue was and how he was going to fix it. Then, after working to repair the problem, he would show me the finished product. I saw him file down teeth that were too sharp and even pull a baby tooth that was getting in the way! It was amazing to see the difference after Victor had finished his work.

Aside from the equine dentist, the past two weeks have also seen this intern primarily in the barn. (A lovely place to be!) Though I haven’t been riding (yet), I have been doing everything but. I, along with other interns and volunteers, have been bathing, grooming, feeding, mucking stalls, and bringing horses up from the paddock. To any non-horse person, this may sound a little tedious. However, for anyone who has ever been bitten by the bug (the horse-bug, that is), you know that it’s wonderful and worth every minute. It’s the perfect way to start a morning, before the pressure of class or work gets in the way. That’s my prescription for anyone feeling stressed out or overwhelmed--just go and spend some time with your horse. (Or, for those of you who don’t have your own, find some place to volunteer. Any horse time is better than no horse time!)

I hope you’ve been watching the first ride videos of this class. They're posted on both the Youtube channel (just type in “Marker’s Mark Secretariat Center”) and the Kentucky Horse Park website. These guys are worth keeping up with! We’ve got a really talented class here at the MMSC!