Cara and I spent Thursday and Friday visiting two colleges that she’s interested in, Morrisville State College, one of the very few SUNY schools that offers equine studies, and Cazenovia College. Cara and her mother had visited Cazenovia last summer, and when we pulled out of the driveway, it was the school that definitely headed her list (based mostly on the palatial barns in which their 70-odd horses reside.) Now I think Morrisville has moved into the top spot, based on the amount of hands-on work (that’s hands on a horse, in case you were wondering) they require. For example, they offer a course in breaking a horse in which the student spends four hours a day with horse every day. Sounds excruciating to me, but Cara’s sees the muddy barns and smells to manure and her heart races. She also liked the dorms and there’s a nearly even male-female ratio which appeals to her as well. Cazenovia is much prettier and seemingly preppier and offers a strong business program which I, with my advanced wisdom, believe will serve her well as she makes her way through life’s torrents and eddys. She’s not hearing any of it, at least not now; at Morrisville, we met a poised and articulate girl who had mud on her boots and straw in her hair, and Cara believes she glimpsed her future. Morrisville costs half of Cazenovia, so who am I to argue?
