Volume 78/Number 4
Fall 1998
Tennessee Alumnus
Home Page
UT Home Page
With My Horse, Of Course
Jonathan Acker thought long and hard before he selected a university. He considered the campus location, the people, the curriculum–and whether he could take his horse.
By Bud Grimes
To Jonathan Acker and other horse lovers, good equine facilities can be the "deal breaker" when selecting a college.
UT Martin and its Equine Center and Rodeo Practice Facility provided a perfect fit for Acker and his 15-year-old horse, Buddy. The two are about to begin their second year at the Martin campus.
"This was one of the only places I found where I felt comfortable keeping a horse," says Acker, a pre-veterinary medicine major from Knoxville. "I could bring my horse and didn't have to worry about paying a whole lot of money. I also liked the school a lot."
Situated on 85 scenic acres six miles west of campus in the Mt. Pelia community, the Equine Center property is easily mistaken for an average farm, which it was until 1994 when a group of UT Martin supporters known as Equine Inc. purchased it.
On closer inspection though, a modern red barn, rectangular and covered with prefabricated siding, is visible from the rock-covered driveway that circles to an older but well maintained four-stall grooming barn a few steps east of the main building.
Facilities topnotch
Inside the twice-renovated center are 56 state-of-the-art stalls and three tack rooms for storing saddles and related equipment. There is even an indoor wash rack with hot and cold running water, a feature valued by both the students and their horses.
The north and west ends of the barn open to rolling pastures bordered by woods. Through the south door, the -rodeo practice arena lies about 100 yards from the barn. Comfort and convenience for humans and animals alike are apparent in the layout.
"This is probably the most elaborate barn I've seen on any campus anywhere," says UT Martin rodeo coach John Luthi, whose team benefits year round from the center's facilities and outdoor practice arena.
The surroundings do come with a price, but rodeo and non-rodeo students alike consider the center's boarding costs reasonable, even an investment for peace of mind.
Suzette Boehms, the center director, says costs range from $200 per semester for basic board to $725 per semester for full board, which includes all services except grooming. In -return, she says, animals receive top-quality care in a safe -environment.
"Safety was the first consideration when we redesigned the barn," Boehms says. "The stalls are the safest on the market. The feeders, the hay racks are all safe."
Center helps attract students
Jen Howell, a rodeo team member from Freeport, Ohio, says the center's location and features were major factors in her decision to attend UT Martin with her chestnut-brown quarter horse, Junior. Besides practicing with the rodeo team at the adjacent arena at least twice a week, the athletic-training major feeds Junior daily at 6 a.m. and again in the late afternoon. She says a full schedule at the Equine Center helps her manage time wisely.
"The more things I have to do, the more determined I am to get it done," she says.
Junior is more than just her partner in rodeo roping events.
"He's one of my best friends," Howell says. "We treat each other with respect, and everything works out all right."
Acker and Buddy, also a chestnut quarter horse, enjoy a similar relationship. The two spend quality time together at the center, and the bond between them is obvious.
"I like Buddy a lot," Acker says. "You look at him and you think he's thinking just as a person would. He's a really good friend."
Another rodeo team member, Jeremy Whitman from Henderson, Tennessee, has kept a horse part time at the facility. He knows firsthand the time and investment involved in caring for a horse, which leads him to reflect on another major Equine Center benefit.
"There's a good quality of people here," says Whitman, who begins study at the UT College of Veterinary Medicine this fall after three years at UT Martin. "To me that's more important than everything else."
More work to do
Despite its many favorable features, the center is a work in progress. Boehms wants to see "the best horse facility in the state" get new perimeter fencing, renovated pastures, and a covered arena for the university's future equestrian team.
All of this takes money, and Boehms looks forward to the center one day moving under the university's financial structure so that donors can easily make tax-favored gifts to the facility.
Those dreams aside, the Equine Center already has a place in the university's culture after only a few years. It smoothes the transition from high school to college for students who want to bring their horses to school and enhances their college experiences.
As for Buddy, Junior, and other horses fortunate enough to follow their owners to college, the Equine Center is more than just another barn. It's one heck of a home away from home.
Top of Page
.