The Academic Equestrian: If Your Horse Was a Car…

…what would it be? Haley Ruffner contemplates.

Photo by Haley Ruffner.

A few days ago, something occurred that I was beginning to fear would never happen: my parents took me to look at a car. As a teenaged equestrian, my price range is very modest and the car definitely reflected that. Despite its advanced age and miles, it (to my untrained eyes, anyways) looked like it had aged gracefully — its nondescript tan paint gleamed from years of care, and the interior, while plain, was immaculate and everything seemed to be in working order.

Knowing next to nothing about cars, I unconsciously started to relate it to something familiar: horses. The “2005 Chevy Malibu, tan, 140k miles” seemed to me to be the equivalent of an old steady trail horse whose sale ad would read “Older chestnut gelding, quiet, easy keeper been-there-done-that mentality, child/husband/grandparent safe, not flashy and has some comformational flaws but will get you from A to B.”

If there is any credence to my comparison, the Malibu will be a great first car — and my hope is that someday I will be able to afford the car version of my current horse!

What is the horse equivalent of your car? Leave your thoughts in the comments section!

Haley Ruffner will be attending Alfred University in the fall to major in English and minor in Business and Equestrian Studies. She has a green Quarter Horse, At Last an Invitation “Cricket,” and he will be joining her at Alfred. She rides western and hunt seat and also loves to rein and trail ride.