Growing up, physicist Brian Camley was anything but an outdoors person. But these days, he spends weekends walking his two horses, Felix and Zukini, on lead ropes at their barn in Maryland’s western Howard County. 

“I sort of married into the hobby,” explains Camley, assistant professor in the William H. Miller III Department of Physics and Astronomy. 

Camley and his wife, Kristen Flowers, bought Felix in 2013. Zukini joined the family—which also includes five cats at home— about two years ago, when Felix developed health issues that made riding him unsafe. 

Camley’s not a rider—riding is tough to learn, he says— but he finds relaxation and satisfaction in taking care of both horses. “It gets you out of your own head; it forces you to be present and just deal with the horse,” he says. “They’re interesting to pay attention to and communicate with.” Felix, a Dutch Warmblood with a taste for apple cider, sometimes acts grumpy but is one of the calmest horses he’s known. Zukini, an Oldenburg, is friendlier but startles more easily. 

Working with any animal teaches patience, but Camley’s found that to be especially true with horses. “The horse outweighs you by an incredible amount, and you have to convince the horse that you are in charge,” he says. “But you also have to meet the horse halfway.”