jmc

For the given function to have a horizontal asymptote, the function will need to approach a constant as $x\to \pm \infty$. This is only possible if the denominator $q(x)$ is at least the same degree as the numerator. Since the numerator has degree $6$, the smallest possible degree of $q(x)$ that will allow the function to have a horizontal asymptote is $\boxed{6}$. For example, we can take $q(x)=x^6.$