Have you seen this horse?

Photo courtesy of Adrian Pingstone/Wikimedia Commons

Ass, arse, booty, booty cheek, bootycall, bootylicious, butt, butt(er), buttocks, buns, bum, badonkadonk, backside, caboose, cake, heinie, fanny, gluteus maximus, keister, rump, tush.

Have you seen this horse on campus? I have. I have seen this horse on campus, along with many other Geneseo students. It all started last semester when funny posters appeared on the bulletin boards in academic buildings, bathroom stall doors, and all over residence halls. The posters posed a simple question: “Have you seen this horse?” It mimicked a typical missing person flyer, with tabs of paper at the bottom available to rip off of the image. They read “now I have” but offered no email or phone number to report this horse sighting to. 

The SUNY Geneseo campus immediately became obsessed with who had seen the horse. Conversations about the horse could be heard across campus, from Daga, to Starbucks, to the basement of Welles Hall. Students asked each other, “Have you seen this horse?” Some responded enthusiastically, “Yes, I have!” while others looked at their peers with sheer confusion. “A horse in Geneseo?” they wondered. 

One student, the girl who sits behind me in my communication lecture, told me “I thought the horse was some campus joke I wasn’t in on at first… but then I saw him myself.” I have also seen this horse. I first saw him on a bulletin board in Welles. He looked friendly; I confidently took a “now I have!” piece of paper from the flyer. Like many other students in Geneseo, I went about my days, content knowing that I had now seen the horse. 

This semester, however, things began to get weird. People have continued to discuss the horse, and debate on what this means for Geneseo. Is seeing the horse good luck (will my mobile order be done quickly?!), or is it a bad omen during midterm season (should I really have studied over spring break?)? 

Regardless of what this horse’s presence on campus means, I have seen him. I saw him roaming Main Street. I wondered if he wanted a cinnamon roll from Sweet Arts Bakery. I noticed him walking into Newton Hall. What classes does a horse take? I also saw this horse in my residence hall, so I assume Geneseo has been lucky enough to receive a horse that lives on its campus. Despite several horse sightings being reported across Geneseo, no Geneseo faculty member has confirmed if any of them were the horse. In fact, SUNY Geneseo’s marketing department released a vague statement on the horse matter which left some students, including myself, even more confused. 

The statement read, simply, “SUNY Geneseo is aware of a horse being reported on campus. Campus officials will not, at this time, confirm nor deny whether there is really a Geneseo Horse. Students are encouraged to continue attending classes and normal campus activities. Avoid any person, or animal, claiming to be The Geneseo Horse. The horse himself could not be reached for comment.” 

In light of the horse-related developments, Geneseo has announced that there will be a 70-foot-long inflatable horse on the college green. He will be there for the entirety of next week. Readers and the Geneseo community must note that this inflatable animal is several feet larger than the college’s last visitor, The Whale. Sources familiar with the situation have confirmed that this will be only an inflatable horse, not The Geneseo Horse. However, Geneseo officials have not ruled out the possibility of the second, real, horse appearing on campus, possibly once all Geneseo students are able to confirm that they too, have seen the horse.