Cows and Horses and Humans

A close-knit crew of students and staff care for the UNH herds

Day or night, hot or cold, rain or shine. In a world of health or pandemic. None of that changes when the cows are milked. When the horses get fed. Life at the UNH barns, and the tending of the animals, remains constant. “Every single day of the year, we’re here,” says Brenda Hess-McAskill, the longtime manager of UNH’s equine facilities.

Even with campus quiet for an extended period of time during the COVID-lengthened semester break, there was a close-knit crew of students and staff caring for the university’s herds. Like animal science senior Hannah Majewski ’21, who grew up participating in 4-H and started working with the campus cows her sophomore year. She’s one of four student workers who live above the Fairchild Dairy Teaching and Research Center, in apartments the students simply refer to as “upstairs.”

Every morning, Majewski is up at 3:30 to milk and care for the cows. Alongside her regular chores — from cleaning stalls to providing fresh grain — she’s also sure to give the cows some pampering, like scratches behind the ears.

Cows and Horses and Humans

A close-knit crew of students and staff care for the UNH herds

Jeremy Gasowski

It’s not as if Day or night, hot or cold, rain or shine. In a world of health or pandemic. None of that changes when the cows are milked. When the horses get fed. Life at the UNH barns, and the tending of the animals, remains constant. “Every single day of the year, we’re here,” says Brenda Hess-McAskill, the longtime manager of UNH’s equine facilities.

Even with campus quiet for an extended period of time during the COVID-lengthened semester break, there was a close-knit crew of students and staff caring for the university’s herds. Like animal science senior Hannah Majewski ’21, who grew up participating in 4-H and started working with the campus cows her sophomore year. She’s one of four student workers who live above the Fairchild Dairy Teaching and Research Center, in apartments the students simply refer to as “upstairs.”

Every morning, Majewski is up at 3:30 to milk and care for the cows. Alongside her regular chores — from cleaning stalls to providing fresh grain — she’s also sure to give the cows some pampering, like scratches behind the ears.

She’s used to living on a different rhythm than her peers. Previous winters, when the beloved emails went out announcing curtailed operations for a snow day, she admits to a twinge of annoyance that she still had to get up and milk.

“Nothing really changes in the winter,” Majewski says. Besides, the cows actually prefer the cold to summer’s heat.

Over at the equine facilities, the horses are a bit more sensitive during the winter. For Chloe Gross ’24, learning each horse’s unique relationship to the cold was part of her learning curve when she started working at the barn last fall. The environmental conservation and sustainability major says the promise of structure and time spent outside pulled her to the barn as she found her footing at UNH.

David Vogt

“We have these amazing creatures, and we get to take care of them,” says Julia Zabkar ’21, an equine industry and management major. She’s worked at the horse barn since her freshman year. For “animal people,” she says the normal routine is part of the magic. Her perfect day at the barn is when she doesn’t have to rush. “I can enjoy the task I’m doing and the animal I’m with. I live for those five minutes.”

So while this is a story about the humans who care for the herds, it’s also a story about the herds that care for their humans.

They have names like Darby and Giles, Otto and Cadete.

“It’s like getting to know a person,” Gross says. “It’s valuable to have that with someone who isn’t a human.”