Therapy horse
Yesterday our haflinger pony, Loki, went to join the team at the Root Farm, to assist in hippotherapy for handicapped children--see www.rootfarm.org for lots of information about the program. Three people from the program came to see him last Friday, rode him and longed him (which he did beautifully, even going from canter to trot on voice command--unless it was a coincidence!), and think he will be perfect for the program. He'll be there on trial for the first while, but they think he'll work out well.
I'm surprisingly sad to see him go, but I think he will like having work to do, and he loves people, so he will enjoy getting to meet lots. And I feel good that he will be doing good in the world. And I don't have to worry about him getting out of the paddock onto the road and running around the neighborhood and getting killed by a car, or getting out of the paddock into the rest of the fenced field and attacking the dogs and killing one of them. And once it starts freezing and I can't use the hose, I won't have to lug heavy buckets of water out to his shed every day, not to mention the hay.
But I'll miss him, anyway.
I sort of regret not having ridden him more while we had him, but even these last few months, when I knew we were looking to give him away, I still didn't have time to lug his tack out to the paddock, groom him, maybe longe him, and ride him--though I did sit on him while Brian was mowing and I had Loki out grazing in the orchard, with the lead rope looped around to both sides of his halter.
In any case, the Root Farm people have said that not only are we welcome to volunteer at the center, leading Loki around while he's working, but we can also come and ride on Saturdays when there's no program going on--in fact, Nicola and I could come and ride Loki and another of the horses. Of course, that's been one of the problems, that neither of us really wanted to ride alone--the lack of a good horse trail we could get to without a horse trailer being the other big one. Anyway, they're having an open house at the Root Farm this Saturday, so I'll go and check it out and see about volunteering.
I'm surprisingly sad to see him go, but I think he will like having work to do, and he loves people, so he will enjoy getting to meet lots. And I feel good that he will be doing good in the world. And I don't have to worry about him getting out of the paddock onto the road and running around the neighborhood and getting killed by a car, or getting out of the paddock into the rest of the fenced field and attacking the dogs and killing one of them. And once it starts freezing and I can't use the hose, I won't have to lug heavy buckets of water out to his shed every day, not to mention the hay.
But I'll miss him, anyway.
I sort of regret not having ridden him more while we had him, but even these last few months, when I knew we were looking to give him away, I still didn't have time to lug his tack out to the paddock, groom him, maybe longe him, and ride him--though I did sit on him while Brian was mowing and I had Loki out grazing in the orchard, with the lead rope looped around to both sides of his halter.
In any case, the Root Farm people have said that not only are we welcome to volunteer at the center, leading Loki around while he's working, but we can also come and ride on Saturdays when there's no program going on--in fact, Nicola and I could come and ride Loki and another of the horses. Of course, that's been one of the problems, that neither of us really wanted to ride alone--the lack of a good horse trail we could get to without a horse trailer being the other big one. Anyway, they're having an open house at the Root Farm this Saturday, so I'll go and check it out and see about volunteering.