The fall semester has officially begun here at Rutgers! It’s nice to see all the students back on campus; the farm gets so quiet during the summertime. I hope y’all have had a smooth start to your school year too. I’m sure many of the Rutgers students would agree with me when I say that the “first day of school” feeling never goes away, even when you’re in college!
It looks like we’re nearing the end of the summer! I can’t believe that it’s already time for my yearly “back to school” blog. I’m sure many of you have spent lots of time outside this summer enjoying the warm weather, hopefully with both your horse and human friends. Even though it’s great to see all your classmates and teachers again this school year, being inside means that it’s a bit easier for everyone to get sick. The same is certainly true for horses! That’s why today I’ll be sharing a bit about contagious respiratory diseases.
I can’t believe that it’s already August! This summer is really flying by fast. That reminds me, isn’t there a big horse race around this time? If you guessed the Hambletonian Stakes, you’d be right! That’s the Standardbred race held on the first Saturday in August at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, NJ. While that’s certainly a fun weekend activity, I want to update y’all on Friday’s event: the 2024 Hambletonian Continuing Education Seminar.
I’m glad I got to see a lot of you at the Summer Showcase a few weeks ago! It’s always great to see everyone get excited about learning something new. This week, we’re chatting about something that isn’t new to me, but it might be new to you: the Rutgers Mounted Patrol! This is a topic near and dear to me because being part of the mounted unit was my first job here at Rutgers.
Speaking of fun events, I recently noticed a bunch of new students on the farm. I thought to myself, “it can’t be the start of the fall semester yet, there’s no way the summer flew by that quickly!” It turns out that it was still indeed summer, but the Animal Sciences Department was hosting some students from another university. They were part of a really cool program, USDA NextGen, that provided hands-on learning opportunities to students in agricultural and animal sciences. These students in particular were from LaGuardia Community College (LAGCC), which is located in Queens, NY. They got to stay on Cook campus for about three weeks and learn all about the farm, its animals, and animal science research here at Rutgers.
July is right around the corner, so it looks like it’s time to break out the red, white, and blue! The 4th of July brings a lot of excitement, celebration, and of course, planning. (I help plan the meals because I need to make sure Dr. M put donuts and hot dogs on her shopping list!) Taking the time to prepare is not only important for your party, but it’s also important for the safety of your horse. Let’s chat about some ways you can help out your four-legged friends on Independence Day.
It’s certainly summertime here in New Jersey! My 4-legged friends here at the ESC have been enjoying some quiet days on the farm since the end of the semester. It’s pretty nice, but that doesn’t mean we are opposed to some company! I love watching the farm tours, we’re lucky to have some knowledgeable staff at the Rutgers farm and lots of people eager to learn from them. Don’t worry, the ESC has an awesome event of our own for you equine enthusiasts: the annual Summer Showcase!
Wow! We’ve had a pretty warm start to summer here at Rutgers! Even though all the students are finished with the spring semester, that doesn’t mean the folks at the Equine Science Center aren’t still hard at work. This week, I decided to chat with one of our Animal Science professors (who happens to love horses!): Dr. Taylor Ross. I think it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these blogs, can you remember the last professional we interviewed? (I’ll remind you at the end of this post just in case you don’t!)
Do you know what the New Jersey state animal is? I’ll give you a hint: we’ve got hooves! (I hope I didn’t give it away too quickly, check the bottom of my post for the answer.) That reminds me, next month is the Month of the Horse! We celebrate this amazing animal and its contributions to society (and our state) throughout the entire month of June.
We’ve been having quite the warm weather this week in New Jersey! I always enjoy seeing the students take a break from their end-of-semester studies to spend some time outside, especially when it means coming with their friends to see the farm. That reminds me, we had a lot of new visitors on the farm last week. Hmmmmm, I know they definitely weren’t undergraduate students, a lot of them were a bit too young for that.
My first job at Rutgers University was on mounted patrol. I also carried the Scarlet Knight mascot at football games. One day I became famous when I got excited, stepped onto the field and became the only horse in history to receive a penalty in a football game! And I’m curious and mischievous! I love to be outside, so don’t ever leave my stall door open. I love all kinds of food – just about nothing at a picnic is safe. I also don’t like cheese puffs. That cheetah on the bag scares me to death! After 22 years on mounted patrol, I’m proud to be back, working for the Rutgers Equine Science Center and telling everyone what I know.
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