How Horse Group Helps You Grow-Up...

Me and Mac, my partner in the woods
for the past 4 years!

I volunteer with a 4H program. I work with kids and horses mainly. I grew through this program myself (with my father as my leader) and it's incredibly important to me.

The way it works:

View from the saddle...

The members of Horse Group (HG) choose or get assigned a horse in September. This is their horse, their partner, for 9 months. Sometimes things happen that forces the participant to ride another horse for a while, but theoretically, this is how it works.  The kids (parents) pay rent on the horse which helps feed, house and care for the horse (it doesn't completely cover the cost though) and the horse gets exercise which keeps it in shape for the summer season of camp! The monthly rent allows the kids to ride every Saturday morning where we ride on the local forest preserve trails and Wednesday evening where we do a lesson for a few months and then begin practicing for our drill team performance in late May. Several kids take time to ride throughout the week but it's an extra or perk that they need to earn by volunteering their time to help at the farm at other times. It's a great program and it's a rare kid that doesn't adore every minute of participation.

The kids have to care for their horse. They learn how to groom or clean the horse, including cleaning the hooves by removing rocks and other packed "stuff" which could harm the horse. On really nasty days (caked on dirt or mud...you have no idea) we just clean where the saddle fits but we balance those days with full cleanings: legs, mane and tail, etc. They learn the parts of the equipment and horse (something I still struggle with for some reason) so they can communicate any issues to the manager of the farm and my co-leader, if needed (or repair their tack).

The horses, lined up, in the corral.

The horses get one rider. This is normal if you own your horse but in our world, these horses have a job all summer and their riders change every two weeks. The riders that come through camp are not accomplished by any means; the kids who participate in camp could have taken lessens, only ridden during camp the summer prior or have never ridden a horse - ever. It's a long 8 weeks for the horses and they really seem to settle back into having a single rider in the fall. The horses get treats, massages (those fun brushes feel wonderful to the horses after a ride) and they even get to know the scent and personality of their rider as we do the same with them.

The horses and kids are fun to get to know and it's really interesting watching each pair grow, even the returners (with or without a new pairing) has something to learn.

Wednesday night lesson (double exposure).

The program pairs kids with horses, yes, but that's not the point. We're teaching these kids life's lessons. Giving them tools to take with them through their lives. It's not something that the government or state says that they have to learn so we're not required to do it a specific way but these kids learn! They are responsible to the group, the team, during routine (drill team) practice. They have to support one another as they deal with the special circumstances that come with each  partnership. They have adults and peers to show respect to. They have to learn to control their emotions as they can set their partner off with a showing of anger, fear or uncertainty.

The program is not about learning to ride (although we do that, too!); it's about learning to live - we just use horses to connect with the kids. It IS a magic partnership...

You can tell a lot about who the kids are or what their home life is like, really by how they take on the tasks at hand. On the first meeting we have to help them a lot:

• The horse won't keep their foot up to be cleaned.
• The mud won't come off.
• I can't lift my saddle.
• Can you put my saddle blanket up?
• How does this thing (bridle) go on, again?
• I'm getting smashed when I curry the horse. 
• I took off the halter and my horse got out.

The first week or two are exhausting for the leaders (and some of the more helpful returners) as we're running back and forth trying to help, teach and just get it done so we can get some time in the saddle. By the time October hits, we expect the kids to be able to correct, learn and fix all the issues they have with their horse. Kids tell us at their homes, parents would just do the task for them if they struggled are finding confidence to try new things and do them on their own.

Mac and Dunne (concealed) playing.

The following year, the once newbies, are seasoned veterans. They can help the "new kids", showing them where things go or tips they picked up the year before. They feel like the own the barn and know all there is to know about each of the horses. They don't always remember everything they learned the year prior but they know more than the new kids and that's the most important thing. They have friends in the program and stories to tell and laugh about.

"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand." - Chinese Proverb  

Because we have little to no personal connection to these children (pre-teen and teen) before they participate, it's easy for us to always assume that they are more than capable of working through each task set before them. In so many areas of their lives, school, home, etc. they are ignorant until they've learned and the way so many parents and teachers give knowledge is by educating as we go, thinking that we have to give them the answers rather than allow them to explore and find the answer that works for them (which still needs to fit in a set of standards laid in front of them). As members of HG, we are taught as we go because we believe that you cannot learn to ride a horse unless you are on the horse.

We all - kids and leaders alike - get stepped on, smashed, roll or tumble off, get bitten (I think I'm the only one who's been bitten in the past few years though), banged into tree trunks or smacked in the face with branches and get scraped by thorns.

We also learn to rely on another living thing, trust in people and animals, find love (it's impossible not to love them), earn self confidence, find muscles we didn't know we had, find and grow friendships (with the animals and one another) and laugh...a lot.

The program hasn't changed an enormous amount from my youth. My stories are peppered with trails that are closed now, kids that are grown up with families and jobs of their own, songs sung on the trail that are on the best of country CD's that the kids have never heard, horses that have long since passed on and bruises, bumps and lessons that feel completely irrelevant to them.

Some things though, exploring the woods (bushwhacking) by making new trails, the best friends you'll ever have, singing (or the occasional rapping) at the top of your lungs, connecting with a creature that could smash you or kick you to death but allows you to ride and control them and new stories...stories that include bumps, bruises and new lessons that you'll never forget...those things stay the same.