Young Horse Owners' Dilemma: Do They Ride Off To College?

SELAH, Yakima County - Sometimes, college demands sacrifice. Leaving home for the first time and saying goodbye to old friends is hard for any teenager.

But for Melody Stansel, 19, bidding farewell to her four-legged friend - a chocolate Arabian gelding named AJ - is one sacrifice too many.

Stansel, a home-school student and 4-H member, doesn't want to give AJ up when she goes off to college.

At her parents' home in Selah, Stansel rides AJ three to four times a week. She pampers him with 15- to 20-minute groomings, baby talk and an affectionate rub on the neck.

AJ has helped Melody win at least 50 awards in horse-show competitions.

Stansel is attending Yakima Valley Community College this fall to be close to AJ. But she's thinking about transferring to Northwest Nazarene College in Nampa, Idaho, next year, and she will have to decide what to do with AJ.

"Actually, I think he's coming with me," Stansel said.

About 2 million Americans are horse owners, according to the American Horse Council in Washington, D.C. Among them are young people like Stansel who want to take their animals to college.

To help horse lovers find a "horse-friendly" college, the Harness Horse Youth Foundation in Carmel, Ind., publishes an annual equine school and college directory. The booklet costs $8 and lists about 146 U.S. and Canadian colleges and universities that offer horse-boarding facilities on campus, as well as equine-related degrees, courses and extracurricular activities.

The directory also lists about 41 sources of equine-related scholarships. Six colleges and universities in the Northwest are listed in the directory: Washington State University; Spokane Community College; Green River Community College in Auburn; Oregon State University; Linn-Benton Community College in Albany, Ore.; and the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, Idaho. Of those, WSU, Oregon State and Linn-Benton offer on-campus horse-boarding facilities on a limited basis.

At most, 50 students bring their horses to WSU annually, said Betsy Greene, an assistant professor of animal science. WSU Hilltop Stables, however, has room for only 10 student-owned horses, and students must apply for the Cooperative Horse Organization Serving Students program to qualify for boarding, Greene said. If chosen for the program, students pay $50 a month and are responsible for buying their own hay.

For a year, Addie Warsen, 26, who came to the university from Lopez Island, has cared for and ridden a borrowed 21-year-old Appaloosa gelding named Tiger at WSU.

Lynnette Haller, 25, of Selah, took her American quarter horse, Dove, to WSU in the summer of 1995 when she was an environmental engineering graduate student.

"It's hard for me to imagine not having a horse around," she said. She grew homesick for Dove and finally decided to bring her along.

"She was there for about six months," Haller said. She finally had to send Dove back to her parents' ranch when the weather began to get too cold and she had to concentrate on her thesis.

Though location and costs vary, horse owners in the United States pay an average of $3,000 a year to maintain their horses, said Steve Ralls, director of administrative affairs for the American Horse Council.

Stansel doesn't pay for boarding because her parents have built a barn for her horse near their home.

Perhaps the most expensive part of owning a horse is boarding it, Stansel said. When schools don't provide stables on campus, private boarding can be costly.

Students can pay between $170 and $250 a month to board their horses at places with indoor riding facilities, Greene said. Stansel's college choice, Northwest Nazarene, doesn't have campus stables for students, so she will have to look for private lodging.

Haller also had to find private lodging for her horse at WSU. She paid about $155 a month for Dove's feed and shelter. Warsen said she pays about $190 a month to board Tiger.

With the cost of horse maintenance and board looming over college tuition and fees - which costs about $1,600 per semester at WSU for in-state students and about $5,000 for out-of-state students - some undergraduates and their parents have to give up their horses.

Warsen owned two mares at her home on Lopez Island, but sold them both before going to college. After spending time away from riding on a regular basis at WSU, Warsen soon regretted her decision. Fortunately, her friend back home was kind enough to lend her Tiger, Warsen said.

For Haller, having Dove with her at WSU was an "emotional outlet."

"Horses are pretty much my source of relaxation and fun," she said.

Stansel's parents said they will support her if she chooses to take AJ with her to Nampa. But Charlie and Lois Stansel will have to wait and see if their daughter can care for her horse while she tends to her studies.

Stansel might also have to find part-time work to help with the costs of caring for AJ during college. Though her parents share the expense, Stansel buys all the horse equipment and horse-show clothing.

"He and I are good friends," she said. "We're really attached to each other . . . We've been through a lot together."