1. Early mornings don’t phase you anymore.

Not only do you have a full week of classes, but say goodbye to sleeping in on the weekends. You’re either on the bus traveling to a horse show at four in the morning, or you're at your home barn hosting a show all day. Regardless, you’ve gotten completely used to waking up at the crack of dawn (or earlier) and going straight to work.

2. You get used to the weird stares when you wear riding clothes to class.

A typical day for me, as an equine major is bouncing back and forth between the riding center and main campus. That leaves little time to change clothes between destinations so the easiest solution is to go to class in your riding clothes. That seems totally normal to us equestrians, but by some of the looks I get from other people, you would think I had two heads. By this time, though, it's just part of the life of an equestrian.

3. You’ve learned how to become a pro at multi-tasking.

Between regular classes, equine classes, horse shows, practices, and keeping your life from spiraling out of control, you become a real professional at the art of multi-tasking. Homework on the bleachers, ringside becomes key to passing your classes.

4. You’re used to people asking ‘Well what are you gonna do with that degree?'

Yes, I will admit the degree I am pursuing is not the most usual, but that doesn't decrease its value. My passion is horses. I know I want to work with them for the rest of my life; so do thousands of other people. I need something to set me apart from the rest of those people, which is why I am getting a degree from a college. Do I need to explain myself any further?

5. You’ve become incredibly talented at explaining that riding is indeed, a sport.

You can’t help but laugh on the inside when you tell people you’re a college athlete and they roll their eyes at you and say, ‘but the horse does everything.’ You can try to tell them all the reasons why riding is indeed a sport, but most of the time they just don't understand. So you’ll have to settle with relishing in the fact that the 1,000-pound animal you ride would probably buck them off in about three seconds flat if they ever dared to try to get on it.

6. Your diet is primarily caffeine.

Very rarely will you find me, or any of my fellow equine majors without some form of caffeine in their hand. Whether it's 5 a.m. or 5 p.m., we generally are always loading up on caffeine to get us through the rest of the day (or night).

7. You don’t know what sleep is anymore.

Once you’re finished with your classes, practices, making sure your stable horse looks spotless, and then homework you realize it's about 2 a.m. and you have to be up again in four hours. Getting eight hours of sleep feels like a far-fetched fairy tale, which is why you always find us chugging coffee.

8. All your general ed classes seem like such a drag compared to equine classes.

Going to college and getting to learn about something you’re passionate about is awesome- but it just makes the other general education classes seem so much more boring. Please explain to me why philosophy is necessary again?

9. You ask yourself why you didn't just get a ‘normal’ degree…

Sometimes you wonder why you didn't just choose a normal education track. After many frustrating hours of braiding a horse’s mane and then having them rub them out before your horse checks, or your white stable horse being brown when you need him clean or the never ending early mornings of horse shows, or always being poor, you start to wonder why you aren't just majoring in business or something you can have a 9-5 job in.

10. But then remembering why you chose this lifestyle.

You know that at the end of the day this is what you want to do with your life and you are setting yourself up in the best possible way to succeed. When you love what you do, you will never feel like you’re working. So enjoy these four (or five) years no matter how hard they may seem, and soak up as much knowledge as you possibly can.