Though riding lessons have paused for the holiday season, we’ve still been keeping very busy here at the Barn!
Monday morning was filled with hauling extra tack and other horse-related goods to the upper barn, which has become the official home of the horse team. We then cleaned these items and the storage room they had been living in. And though I wasn’t a part of it, there was also a volunteer training going on that morning. In the afternoon, our instructors made phone calls to parents to review their child’s progress for the term. Ellen, one of our instructors and our resident occupational therapist, took some additional time to talk to our staff about hippotherapy and its differences from therapeutic riding.
Yours truly was out ill on Tuesday, but it was also jam-packed. Several staff members attended a seminar lead by speaker John Maxwell at Church of the Highlands. Then the horse team lead a brainstorm for potential ground work lessons and the Bully in the Barn camp occurred that afternoon.
Wednesday is my off day but Barn friend and horsemanship expert Anne Alan led a clinic, which I heard was awesome!
Thursday started with a camp for a group of home-school children. The kids had hands on experience with grooming horses, cleaning the horses’ stalls, playing with the goats and bunnies, and even doing a little bit of lassoing. In the afternoon, our intern Emily gave a presentation on ways we can help empower our students. She did an amazing job and I know I’ll personally incorporate the advice she gave into every lesson.
On Friday (that’s today!), a volunteer group from Cornerstone Christian School came in the morning to help put crush & run in and level out both Elvis’s and Salty’s stalls. They also made decorations for our upcoming Christmas party/open-house and cleaned up the piles of leaves that had been in the roadside ditches. We really appreciate their help! This afternoon was kind of slow, though I’m a bit thankful as it finally gives me an opportunity to update y’all on what’s been happening around here.
While it may be freezing and none of our kids are currently riding, work at the Barn never ends. All these groups we’ve had in the past week were scheduled around cleaning out 16 stalls every morning and the multitude of other daily chores that come with having horses. The Barn is rarely not busy and bustling, but I like it that way. I find comfort in knowing that there is always something going on or something to do here. There’re no idle hands here.
-Connor