"It's a nice way to start the day," he says as he saddles up the 12-year-old gelding in a stable at his family's Gladwyne estate. It's 6 a.m., hours before the school bell rings.
The idea was his dad's, Burch says, hatched this summer while the family was vacationing at its cattle ranch in Montana.
The two were joking about how parents like to tell their children how hard they had it growing up.
"My dad just said, 'Roby, you should ride your horse to school every day,' " says Burch, a fair-haired 16-year-old with the grit and politeness of a ranch hand.
Burch, who began riding at age 4 and loves horses more than anything, thought it a great idea, especially since his sisters, who used to drive him to school, are now at college. So when they got back home, he appealed to headmaster Joe Cox.
With liability such a worry that some schools don't allow tag at recess, cupcakes at parties, or parents into buildings without background checks, you'd think Cox might recoil at such an unconventional idea.
The headmaster admits his first thoughts were: Is this legal? And where are you going to put the horse? The answer to the first was yes and to the second, well, Burch already had a place in mind - a plot of land right next to the headmaster's house.
"My wife's not too excited about it," Cox says, noting the increased dust and earthy smells.
But after getting the green light, Burch helped build a corral next to the house, across the street from the school's athletic fields.
Cox thinks it's great that Burch is sharing his passion for horses with the rest of the students. They've certainly taken notice. In a recent speech, the student body president said he had just gotten his first car, a 2002 PT Cruiser, a model associated with soccer moms.
"It could be worse," he joked. "I could have a horse."
