I currently have a 6 month old colt who I am looking to train to event when he is of age. I am currently in college on a pre-veterinary track and I am worried about him coming of age at the same time I am ready to go to vet school. I am hoping to hear from current vet students and am curious to hear if anyone has had the experience of multitasking between school and horse while in vet school. I really am hoping it will all work out but I also want to be prepared in case I need to find other arrangements for him while in school.
Not a current vet student, but I was one not that long ago!
I did find time to ride during vet school - it was the only thing that kept me sane. There were definitely whole weeks (midterms, finals) that I didn’t get to the barn, but other than that I was able to ride probably 3-4 days a week at minimum. It gets a little harder when you’re on clinics. My horse was diagnosed with a tear of his deep digital tendon sheath while I was doing my clinical rotations, so most of my barn time consisted of rehab - walking under saddle, icing, etc - and that definitely got a little tedious! I was even able to ride a fair bit when I was an intern - there were definitely days when I was about to head to the barn, or had just pulled in, and I got paged for an emergency - but more often than not I was able to get my ride in, even if sometimes it was at 5:30 am before I had to be at work!
Not sure how long it might be till you enter vet school, but keep in mind that your colt will probably just be learning the basics at that point. Even some groundwork will be helpful for him at that stage in the game and it takes less time than setting up a bunch of jumps, tacking up, and riding. I definitely needed an outlet while I was in school and I think I would have gone crazy if I didn’t have my ponies!
I just finished vet school in May and had my horse with me the entire time. The first three years I was able to ride fairly regularly (3-4 times a week) and worked at the barn some weekends. Some weeks were harder than others for sure. Clinics were definitely tougher to find time for riding than the classroom years but usually I could go at least once a week even during the super time-intensive rotations. It made things difficult at times but it definitely kept me sane.
In vet school now and I get out about 3-4x a week.
My daughter kept her horses at her house through vet school and rode regularly. Often it was a short ride in the driveway after dark, but it was still a ride. When she went on away rotations her 4th year, she picked places where she could bring her horses. She particularly enjoyed her January rotation at a big, Ocala vet clinic.
I found time to ride in vet school but mostly during my 3rd year. I also compete with my dogs though and did that all 4 years. So if you’re focusing on riding as your only extra-curricular you should be able to make it work.
I’m in vet school - While I currently have no showable horses, I get out to the barn about 3-5 days a week and maybe can ride 1-2 times a week. You will have a lot less time than in undergrad but there is time, however I think training might be difficult unless you are prepared to go very slowly. When I was in college and had a hunter and eventer I was still showing about 8-10 shows a year and doing 5 or so events, now I get to do 1…in the summer. If you have any other questions please let me know.
I am currently a sophomore in college. He will be 3 in march of my senior year so I will have a good head start to training before I enter vet school. I am more just worried about whether I will be able to dedicate time to him while in school.
I have 2 friends in vet school (3rd year). One started off owning a horse, realized it wasn’t a good horse for her and sold it. She leases and takes lessons. Other friend owns a horse who is pretty much retired. Horse is boarded back home. She barely rides during school (although that may be as much because there aren’t many barns near her school).
From what I’ve seen with my friends, you’ll likely have time for the horse, but not as much as you might want. How far you have to travel to get to your horse and how much studying you need will factor in as well. It’s certainly not impossible to have a horse in vet school, but will require good time management skills on your part.
And not to sound pessimistic, but you may not get into vet school right away. Both of my friends had a year between finishing undergrad and starting vet school.
I’ll be the voice of dissent: I graduated a year and a half ago and I did NOT have time to ride while in school. BUT I went to school in a large city and my commute to the barn I could afford was an hour + each way, depending on traffic. When I was on large animal clinics I was much closer to the barn and I did actually ride some my fourth year, but I don’t think my schedule would have allowed for a really consistent training program. I know it’s doable especially for folks who can keep their horses close to campus, but if you really want to ride in vet school, consider your commute.
And just to clarify, it wasn’t that I had no free time- I trained for and ran my first half marathon in vet school, but the commuting factor, for me, was just not doable riding-wise.
[QUOTE=faybe;7772299]
I’ll be the voice of dissent: I graduated a year and a half ago and I did NOT have time to ride while in school. BUT I went to school in a large city and my commute to the barn I could afford was an hour + each way, depending on traffic. When I was on large animal clinics I was much closer to the barn and I did actually ride some my fourth year, but I don’t think my schedule would have allowed for a really consistent training program. I know it’s doable especially for folks who can keep their horses close to campus, but if you really want to ride in vet school, consider your commute.
And just to clarify, it wasn’t that I had no free time- I trained for and ran my first half marathon in vet school, but the commuting factor, for me, was just not doable riding-wise.[/QUOTE]
This is 100% true I am lucky it takes me about 15 minutes to get from the barn to the school.
I rode all 4 years and pretty steadily during my internship. Horses are at home though which makes a big difference. I did NOT have time for much showing, if at all. Too many on-calls on the weekends, so it wasn’t easy to schedule a day away for a horse show. However, getting on for a ride at home was usually no problem. I think a young horse that isn’t showing yet is a perfect mount for vet school. There’s enough time to train and the horse needs time to grow up anyway.
Now, there are people in vet school who are super gung-ho about getting involved in every club, every meeting, and every extra curricular activity. This was NOT me. If you think this might be you, then you will not have any free time.
