HAPPY EASTER!!!!

Dear Friend of Pony Farm,

It is with great joy and happiness that I send this PF Blog to YOU!!! I adore letting you know about all the many exciting and creative things happening at Pony Farm, Horse Power and the Lodge. Mostly, I love to welcome YOU to come and visit…sit a spell or join us for one or more of the fun things that are happening here at the farm. It is alive with activity!!!

Our Pony Farm and Horse Power Spring Lesson series are well underway. The rings have nicely dried out and have been carefully raked for excellent spring riding classes. With over 100 students riding each week, it is a busy and happy place. The staff has worked long and hard to get just the right horses and ponies to mount the littlest to the oldest rider, regardless of ability. Everyone is welcome here at the farm to share our love of horses. It is my greatest delight to see each ring busy with good learning, whether teachers are working with riders on an obstacle course, a complicated dressage move, a jumping grid or simply learning how to trot. I am most proud of our instructors and the caliber of our lesson mounts. With certification for our instructors and accreditations for our various programs, we feel we offer one of the finest lesson programs in the country. If you are not already part of the “Farm Family, come visit anytime and see us in action. You are especially welcome to join us for our Spring Lesson Horse Show on Saturday May 9th. This horse show will offer three rings, lots of ribbons and good judges to showcase all of our riders. Come help us pass out some ribbons to our winners….We think you will like what you see!!!

Happily, our Horse Power Instructor Training School is also in full swing. We have three Instructor Candidates working on their national certification as therapeutic riding instructors. Each of these bright, hard working and talented people will return to their home state and will make the world a better place for people with challenges in their lives. We are immensely proud of the work these folks are doing and thank them for their deep commitment to bring the joy and health of horsemanship to people in need.

The summer camp staff for both the residential Pony Farm residential camp and the Barn Yard Buddies day camp are hard at work getting ready to receive their campers. We hope that Pony Farm and Horse Power will always be a great opportunity for children of all ages and abilities to enjoy being outside in the fresh air, learning new things and reveling in the love of all kinds of animals. The vegetable and flower gardens should add to their enjoyment, as will the swimming pool. During the summer months, it is hard to come to the farm and not catch the spirit of joy and fun that abounds in every corner of the barn, the woods trails or country lanes. Join us and catch this spirit!!!

We are also enjoying a terrific year at the Lodge at Pony Farm. We have had many different types of successful gatherings at the lodge. From Family weekends to Mother or Father Daughter Camp Weekends, to alumnae or family reunions, special Anniversary events, to Gardening Classes, to workshops on Soil Enrichment or Spiritual Awakening or Yoga, we have have enjoyed rich variety of meaningful events that have enlivened and awakened our thinking. We are even about to celebrate a Blessing of the Farm on Saturday evening May 9th. A real Shamen who is a true Native American and will be dressed in ceremonial attire will be leading this unique event. This is most exciting because it is strongly believed that the lodge used to be the site of a Temple hundreds of years ago. Honoring the true spirit and strength of the land will be a pleasure indeed.

Prior to the Lesson Horse Show, the Blessing of the Farm and the start of our summer camps, we invite one and all to come to our Farm Clean Up Day and Cookout on Saturday April 25th. This is a great day of celebration of the beauty of the farm, with many hands making light work. We will paint fences and jumps, wash windows, build a new ring, work on the new Farm Store and finish cleaning up the yards and plant some of the gardens. We will offer a great big yummie cook out and lots of time to chat and join together as a Farm Family. With your help, we can continue to make the farm beautiful and safe for all people and horses. Join us!

This farm clean up day is also geared to our upcoming celebration of Horse Power’s 20th Anniversary to be held on Saturday June 6th. Again, this day will be dedicated to the hard working board, staff, volunteers and horses of Horse Power, our therapeutic riding program. It is hard to believe that Horse Power is 20 years old…but it is indeed true. We are also wanting to honor the wonderful donors who have made Horse Power possible. The plans are coming together nicely for this most joyous of events.

In addition to the ongoing programs and special events, we have lots of other exciting news to share with you. This has truly been a time of expansion and new resolve. We have added several new programs that we are proud to share with you. It is our hope that you might become inspired to help out with one or more of these programs.

• “Gardening for Good”….joining with two wonderful local schools (RSEC Academy and Summit High School) we are creating or enhancing eight existing gardens to grow fresh vegetables, herbs, flowers and fruit. We will not only be feeding the folks who come to stay with us for camp or lodge events, but we will be selling our produce to the local community. These kids will learn everything from farming skills, to marketing and communication, to keeping a check book. A third of the profit will go to the kids, a third to the program for next year and a third to the world famous Heifer Project International. Instilling a work ethic mixed with entrepreneurship and philanthropy is all a good thing in this day and age.

• “Animal Ambassadors”…joining with Temple Elementary School second graders, an Antioch/New England Intern and a wonderful group of parents, we are in the process of a three month program with the kids and the farm animals. In March, each student selected his or her favorite animal from the sheep, miniature horses, goats, and rabbits. They then researched their animal, making journals, displays, written projects and verbal presentations. Following this, they have come to the farm to get practice in handling their animal and taking it through a training/agility course. They are also learning how to meet and be with elderly folks, some of whom may have hearing or sight challenges. In May, we will bring all the Animal Ambassadors, two and four footed to area Assisted Living and Nursing Homes for visits. We cannot wait to share our love of animals with older people, all the while being Ambassadors of goodness and happiness.

• “Horses for Heroes”…joining with the National Guard, the Veterans Victory Farm and Monadnock Family Services, we will be sharing our love of the farm, horses, gardens and farm animals with men and women who have served our country. It is our sincere hope to thank them for their service and make them feel welcome back from the war and to their lives. We will be offering riding, driving, employment opportunities and family activities. Again, we welcome you to help!

• Farm Store Opens….We will be expanding our usual summer camp store to a new ‘venue’…the Loft overlooking the parking lot. With this new space, we will be offering the usual fun summer time clothing, farm hats and water bottles. In addition we will be selling fresh produce, flowers and local products. This will be a fun addition to our farm while giving kids an opportunity to learn to run a business.

Perhaps most exciting of all is the renovation and refurbishing of the yellow farm house, formerly my house where I grew up and raised my own children. This lovely home was built in 1754 and deserves to be carefully and loving restored. We are very excited to be working with a well respected local historian to restore it. With lots of painting, polishing, waxing and upgrading of the bathrooms, this will be a wonderful new feature of the farm. During the summer months, it will house the oldest campers and half of the camp staff. During the rest of the year, it will serve as the lodging for the Instructor Training School and Interns. We will also be bringing school groups to the farm and having the house be an educational reenactment of an old Colonial Farm. With so much history behind it, and such a bright future ahead of it, the house is going to be an upcoming feature of the whole farm. So, as you can tell, we are busy and happy and working hard. We welcome you to join us for any of the activities or programs that might be of interest to you and your family. You will get a warm welcome and a friendly tour. We love having visitors and will enjoy showing you what is happening on that day. Until then, stay well and enjoy the coming of spring.

Warmly and with enthusiasm,
Isabella (Boo) Martin, M.Ed.
Founder and Executive Director
NARHA & CHA Master Instructor
ACA Certified Camp Director