We got an early start today for our first day with Hoofs 4 Healing. The barns sit a long way down a back road with which our GPS was less than familiar. The navigation dropped us off at the first unmarked building, which all twelve of us walked into only to discover it was a trucking company. As you can imagine, they were a little surprised to see a dozen college students ambling in early on a Tuesday morning. They were nice, though, and directed us down the road to reach our destination.
Upon our arrival, we met Karrie, the woman who founded and runs Hoofs 4 Healing. She showed us a video from a very similar program to hers, which explains the benefits of therapeutic riding centers. We learned that children with disabilities can make major breakthroughs from bonding with and riding horses. The horses’ hips even mimic the movement in a person’s own, allowing a child with limited mobility to stretch their hips and build those muscles.
However, today was another rainy day, so we didn’t have riders. Instead Karrie and one of her riding instructors, Jessica, led us in some maintenance projects. Three people headed for the stables to muck horse stalls, clean and fill water buckets, and tidy up. The rest worked on the first steps in taking down an old barn, removing large pieces of wood and painting. We were planning to stay until five in the evening, but without the riders, Karrie sent us off before lunch so we could enjoy more free time in the city.
We took advantage of the free time, but not in the way Karrie assumed. Within a few minutes of being home we’d eaten our packed lunches, crawled into our beds, and fell asleep for the majority of the afternoon. A late night game the evening before had left us exhausted, and we needed the nap. A team of three prepared tacos for dinner while several of us enjoyed down time to read, talk, and of course play Trivia Crack. Taco Tuesday was a success, but we decided we’d need to satisfy our sweet tooth in town, so we loaded up the vans and hit Bruster’s for ice cream.
The night consisted of a few rounds of Mafia and some schoolyard basketball games in the church gym. It might not have been the most adventurous use of our day, but we agree that it helped us all get to know each other better. We’re ready for another day at Hoofs 4 Healing tomorrow, although rain is scheduled to keep riders away again. We’ll work on our barn project and play with the kittens Karrie has in her house. It’s looking like it might be another shorter day, but we hope to take our afternoon to finish up souvenir shopping in the city. Finally on Thursday and Friday we should be able to work with the kids. We can’t wait!
-MAB Savannah
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