The Draft Horse & Driving Club at UC Davis
President: Amber Kurtz
Amber is a second-year undergraduate student, studying animal science with an equine specialization.
Contact: askurtz@ucdavis.edu
Driving experience before the club: none!
Horse experience before the club: mainly english pleasure riding and volunteered at a therapeutic riding center.
Coming to school, I knew I wanted to be around horses in any way that I could. During orientation before school started my freshman year, I heard our previous president talk about the club. This club seemed like the perfect fit! I went to their first drive of the quarter, and sure enough, found my new family. I loved how open and welcoming everyone was and how you didn’t need any experience to join. It’s a great place to meet people with so many different backgrounds. I’ve learned so much about driving and draft horses over the last year, and I hope this club can do that for so many other people! Come check us out, we’d love to have you!
Favorite Color: Red
Favorite Food: Chicken Pot Pie
Super power you wish you had: Invisibility/Teleportation
Favorite Movie: Secretariat and The Real Genius
Favorite Books: Where the Red Fern Grows, Paint the Wind
Dream job: Equine Surgeon
Favorite Class: Animal Management Practices (ANS 49) I was at the dairy and got to feed the calves and move the cows. Helped with injections for the heifers. Super hands on and loads of fun :)
Hobbies: reading, drawing, baking, hanging with animals
Vice President: Isabel Muga
Isabel is a third-year animal science student specializing in equine sciences and minoring in anthropology with an emphasis in archaeology.
Contact: ilmuga@ucdavis.edu
​Driving experience before the club: I came with no driving experience.
Horse experience before the club: ​Most of my experience comes from riding horses. I have been riding for about 16 years, however I have also worked at a barn providing horsebacking riding lessons and putting on summer camps.
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When I joined my second year at Davis, I was going through a rough patch in both my academic and personal journey. I knew I wanted to stay with horses after I went off to college, but did not know where to start. I found the club just by going on the UC Davis Horse Barn website and found the drive times and I just showed up. Everyone was super nice and understanding when it came to the different horse experience people brought in! One of my favorite memories was picnic day of 2023.
​Favorite Color: Blue/green.
Favorite Food: Anything with noodles.
Super power you wish you had: Time manipulation.
Favorite Movie: How to Train Your Dragon
Favorite Books: Currently obsessed with anything by Ali Hazelwood. Sucker for romance and fantasy.
Dream job: Professor in animal science/zoology
Favorite Class: Any animal science or anthropology course. Please, take an anthropology course if you can! They are so fun.
Hobbies: When I am not driving, I love to just hang out with friends and make impulsive decisions to get coffee.
Secretary/Treasurer: Jessica Mickelson
Jessica is a fourth-year transfer student studying Animal Science with a companion animal specialization and the hopes of getting into exotics (specifically reptiles).
Contact: jmickelson@ucdavis.edu
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Driving experience before the club: none!
Horse experience before the club: minimal at best.
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I saw the sign in that was put up in the MU and it immediately piqued my interest. I have a silly thing about learning how to drive as many forms of transportation as I can, and a horse-drawn wagon is a great addition to my collection. Everyone was so welcoming to me and some of my favorite memories at Davis are with this club.
Favorite Color: Black, mauve, and burgundy
Favorite Food: Mongolian BBQ
Super power you wish you had: Flight
Favorite Movie: Up
Favorite Books: Hard to say…I’m really enjoying The Glass Castle right now
Dream job: This is a terrible question to ask someone who has 5 dream jobs…pilot, reptile vet, 911 dispatcher, bus driver, reptile rescue owner, etc.
Favorite Class: Organic Chemistry if you can believe it
Hobbies: I enjoy flying, drawing/painting, and caring for my scale babies
Social Media Manager: Carmen Huitron
Carmen is a fourth year undergraduate student studying Animal Science with a companion animal specialization.
Contact: chuitron@ucdavis.edu
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Driving experience before the club: None
Horse experience before the club: ​not a lot, but some riding
​During my first year while I was around campus I would see a big black horse pulling a wagon and I thought to myself how great it would be to learn how to drive and work with horses. I found the club on instagram and decided to show up to a drive even though I had no experience with horses or how to drive. After that day I loved the experience since they taught me from haltering to grooming to hitching and driving and everyone was so welcoming and great to talk to since there are many people from different horse experiences. So far, I have learned a lot from the club and most importantly how to interact with the girls, Olive and Dee.
Favorite Color: Blue gray or gray blue
Favorite Food: My moms food (chiles rellenos)
Super power you wish you had: teleport
Favorite Movie: Lilo and Stitch, HTTYD
Favorite Books: not much of a reader
Dream job: Registered Veterinary Technician or Equine Vet assistant
Favorite Class: Animal Science 41: I got the chance to go to the different animal facilities that UCD has and got the chance to learn to handle, vaccinate and draw blood with various barn animals.
Hobbies: play the guitar and hang out with animals as much as possible
Drive Leader: Leigh Houck
Leigh is a fourth year Spanish and Portuguese PhD student who received her masters and bachelors in Spanish and Portuguese at UC Davis.​
Contact: lmhouck@ucdavis.edu
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Driving experience before the club: None!
Horse experience before the club: I had about six years of hunter jumper riding experience and two years of horse rescue volunteer experience.
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I am so glad I found the Draft Horse and Driving Club! I have made so many great friends over my six years here- and of course I love Olive and Dee. Everyone in the club is so down to earth, friendly, funny, and welcoming! I would recommend anyone who has an interest in horses and/or driving but who’s been scared off by other exclusive or expensive groups to check out DHDC. One of my favorite memories from college so far was prepping the horses and driving in the Picnic Day parade with the whole club!​
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Favorite Color: Green
Favorite Food: Mexican Food
Super power you wish you had: Shapeshifting
Favorite Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Favorite Books: Shadow and Bone
Favorite TV Show (if you have one): Hawaii 5-0
Dream job: Writer
Best Class: Spanish Literature classes
Hobbies: In addition to DHDC I love doing yoga, going for hikes, and rollerblading!
Drive Leader: Karen Watling
Karen is a second year veterinary student planning to specialize in wildlife conservation medicine. She got her B.S. in Biology form Cal State Channel Islands before moving to Davis for veterinary school
Contact: kmwatling@ucdavis.edu
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​Driving experience before the club: None!
Horse experience before the club: ​I moved to Davis in June before the school year started and applied for a job at a horse farm as a stall cleaner with zero horse experience before. I then joined the Draft Horse and Driving Club 3 months later.
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I grew up going to watch the horse shows at my local county fair every summer with my mom, and we would watch the draft and carriage shows the most. When I started vet school, I met a friend who had previously been a member of the club when she was in undergrad and learned about the club through her and was so excited about the prospect of being able to try it out for myself. I went to the first drive of the school year where we hitched up both horses and drove them both around the arena and have been hooked ever since. I enjoyed how knowledgeable the drive leaders were and how they were willing to teach every step of the way, from just haltering and bringing the girls to the barn all the way to actually driving them around. Since then I have learned so much and have felt welcomed into a community.
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Favorite Color: Purple
Favorite Food: potatoes
Super power you wish you had: telekinesis
Favorite Movie: Star Wars
Favorite Books: I’m a sucker for cheesy romance books
Dream job: wildlife veterinarian in South Africa
Favorite Class:
Hobbies: baking, polo, board games
