Our Very Own Horse Whisperer

There is a family-owned farm not far from us. They run a farm market year-round, selling their own produce and a variety of other locally grown foods and locally produced products as well. In fact, we won’t buy corn on the cob from the grocery store anymore. We wait until we can get it fresh from the farm. They have bred their own variety of sweet corn and it is well worth the wait. We eat is as often as we can while it is in season. In addition to their produce, they run a preschool, host a yearly pumpkin patch with hayrides, sell Fresh Christmas trees in the holiday season, host a food truck event each Friday during the summer, and a number of other things. In short, they have made their farm into a lucrative business. One of the newer things they offer is a variety of farm experiences. They have seasonal experiences where patrons can come in and see what is growing in each season and what the farming looks like at different times of the year. They have ones just at strawberry harvesting time that focus on the sweet little berries. They have an experience where people can get up close and personal with their goats and see what caring for a goat would be like. And they have a similar experience with horses. 

When I got the email announcing their four-week “Life of a Horse” experience, I thought it would be a perfect fit for Malia. She had a few horse riding lessons last year, but she got bored with that pretty quickly because they didn’t move fast enough for her. After six weeks, she was just riding around in big, slow circles and she wanted more hands-on time with the horse. The local farm doesn’t focus on riding, it focuses on how horses think, their “herd behavior,” and how to care for and communicate with them.  Malia was sick last week and missed her first hour with the horses, but the teacher was amazingly accommodating and gave her two hours today to make up for the lost lesson. And Malia was in heaven. They learned how to put a halter and lead line on the horses and she had all three horses haltered in about five minutes. The instructor told Kevin that she has had adults who spent the entire hour trying to halter one horse. But apparently Malia has a really good demeanor for working with these animals because she had them eating out of the palm of her hand…literally. There was one that was following her around by the end of her time. She also learned how to clean out their hooves and how to brush them. 

When Malia got home, she was extremely happy. She had missed a birthday party to go spend time with the horses and although she had been sad about that in the morning, by the time she got home she was incredibly glad she had gone to the farm instead. She has two more weeks so spend hanging out with the horses and she is excited for next Saturday.