Fall Term Midpoint

Well folks, we are officially halfway through our Fall term! It’s hard to believe that lessons started seven whole weeks ago. We’ve loved every minute of it so far and are happy to have six more weeks of fun left in the term.

As expected, this has been the Barn’s busiest term in all four years of its existence. The first couple of weeks were a bit of a challenge trying to squeeze in preparations for Bluegrass and Burgers while still figuring out the daily routine for the Fall. Luckily, we have a resilient and hardworking staff who were able to overcome every obstacle that tried to throw a wrench in either our daily lesson plans or prep work building up to B & B. The event itself was a big success and we’ve been riding a wave of momentum ever since.

Though we’re now cruising through this term, it has still been nice to pause and absorb some of the moments where our students exhibit both joy and growth from their time spent here. Lance’s laughter while trotting, Nick and Lee playing pranks on one another between cleaning water troughs, our JAYC students having a moment of clarity when connecting what they learned in the classroom with the horse activity – all of those are what fuelled me to push through the more difficult aspects of the job.  Our staff has our fair share of trials here, whether its enduring the brutal heat while placing crush and run under stall mats between Summer and Fall terms, to scurrying between lessons to clean out the overgrown gardens so they were tidy for Bluegrass and Burgers, to cleaning out Salty’s stall at 5:45 in the evening after having been constantly moving since 8:00 that morning.

I love this job, but like any other workplace, there exists a unique set of daily challenges to overcome. However, the reward – getting to work with our kids and see them grow and smile – is what makes working at the Red Barn so amazing. I’m thankful for my opportunity to be a part of what happens here. This Fall, like the two Falls that preceded it, has been awesome so far. I know I’ll enjoy every minute of the remaining six weeks in the term.

-Connor