Describing my experience.

The experience of helping at Fox Lake Farms had many aspects.  I walked around the pond heading toward the back pasture where the horses were grazing and as I stopped for a moment,
I realized the sounds of birds 
singing, horses chewing, even the sound of insects flying around, giving me a sense that I was now in an environment of that was true to nature.

  I walked out into the pasture and felt the warm, soft coats of the horses as I began to pet them and enjoy their company.  The horses, the field, the pond in the background, was a sight that brought back memories of when I was a child and grew up on a farm just like this, evoking feelings of being homesick while at the same time filling me with a sense of peace and warmth.

 Even the taste in the air has a thicker, almost dirt like feel to it, with smells ranging from the stench of manure to the sweet smell of freshly strewn hay, these of which I have only experienced out in a country area like this one.  

Volunteering at Fox Lake Farms is alot like learning to play a musical instrument.

When I first heard of Fox Lake Farms and hippotherapy, they were both new and unfamiliar to me.
 Although I knew that I loved outdoors, horses, and children, I did not realize how the combination of these could open my mind and my world up to create a positive change in me.   In comparison to learning to play a musical instrument, such as a guitar, loving music and knowing of the instrument, is not the same as diving in and taking lessons to learn to play.

It opens up your mind and even opens doors to adding more positive influences into your life.  Understanding horses and even riding them is definitely enjoyable, but to become a part of  the Fox Lake Farms hippotherapy program compares to after learning to play the guitar, becoming a part of a band that comes together to create music for the enjoyment of others, but in that enjoyment comes complete satisfaction of being a part of something bigger than yourself.

  This is also true with my service at Fox Lake Farms.

One day's event

A few of the workers and I took all the horses out of their stalls and lead them to the pasture where they remain for the day.  In the pasture, the horses run around for their exercise and also graze on the green grass.   

With two of the trained horses, we began working with two autistic girls.  Then, out of the blue, one of the workers noticed that an older, blind horse was loose and running around.  The horse somehow escaped from the pen.  Gloria, called everyone to work together to round the horse up to put her back in the pasture.  She was not cooperative and we worked longer than expected but finally got her back where she needed to be.  We all discussed influences to this event as well as possible outcomes.  

Possibly the gate did not get latched, either at all or at least not properly or the gate was broken or maybe there was a hole in the fence. 



The outcome definitely hindered the therapy session with the girls, as well as taking our time to chase the horse, so that neither the horse nor a person would become injured, which would have been the worst outcome.

Advocate

One thing that most of us want for ourselves and definitely for our children is to have confidence. 

Confidence coincides with them having a good self-esteem and self-image. Confidence keeps them from fearing the future and gives them the strength to pursue their dreams and desires, which can allow them to set larger goals for themselves.  Volunteering at Fox Lake Farms gave me a greater confidence not only in myself but in the people around me and the good that is accomplished through the efforts we all put forth.

  

Seeing the appreciation for my willingness and hard work, and seeing my hard work helping others gave me a sense of pride that built  my confidence to do more, not only here at Fox Lake Farms but out in my community as well.  So much so, that I brought two of my boys with me to volunteer.  They both were unsure at first, but soon were working hard with those at Fox Lake, giving them much needed jobs that they were more than capable of completing.  By the end of the day, we all felt a great sense of accomplishment.

 As a parent, seeing my boys accept the challenge of volunteering, work hard at it, and then accomplishing it with pride and fulfillment, became obvious that the confidence they gained will inspire them to do more. 

Helping at Fox Lake Farms

Arriving at Fox Lake Farms, I am first of all greeted by dogs, cats, and even a few pigs that were running around as Gloria, the owner welcomes me and who shows me to the barn where she 

introduces me to the two horses that she will be using in her next hippotherapy session. 

 We then get two of their well trained horses out walk them to a designated area where we groom them as we wait for the four children with autism will soon be arriving to begin another therapy session.  I watched as the parent brought two boys, that looked to be around 11 or 12 years old and then two girls who seemed to be around the same age.  Gloria patiently introduces each child to the horses and reminding them of proper horse etiquette and safety.  






She takes the time with each individual child to work with them and the horse as they bridle, saddle, and mount the horse to begin what is a pleasant ride to them, but an amazing therapeutic lesson that Gloria is using to help expand each child’s ability to interact and communicate with the horse as well as others.