Back to the Farm

Its been a cold and snowy winter here.  We haven't been able to go to the farm in AGES.  Every weekend, Jakes has asked if we can go.  Every week, Ms. Jill posts on Wednesday that she hopes to have lessons on Saturday.  But then Saturday rolls up and there's no lessons.  UGH.

Finally, this past Saturday I got a text from Ms. Jill saying COME OVER!  It was a lovely day.  Sunny and dry.  And everyone showed up to have fun!

The Kitties have missed the kids

The horses have missed the kids

The kids have missed the horses.

Jakes heading out for a Happy Ending Ride on Milkshake

When we can get back to the farm, that tells me Spring is on the way!  Here's hoping we go back this weekend!

The Star of the Farm - This Week

Jakes was features on the Farm's blog this week!  Ms. Jill is just SO proud of Jakes and all he has accomplished.

Check out her post!  She did a fabulous job of singing my son's praises!


http://anythingforhorseandrider.wordpress.com/2013/11/10/you-go-jac/

Farm Drama

As I was on my way to get Jakes after work, I ran into one of the mom's from the farm.  She gave me a heads up that there was drama happening at the farm.  Okay.  She gave me the low-down on what she knew so I could give Jakes a heads up and let him be ready for whatever would happen on Saturday.

We got to the farm and checked in with Ms. Jill.  She didn't share details but then unless they affect me or Jakes, I don't really need to know about the details.  The two newest trainers had left the farm for another farm. Lots of kids are disappointed with the changes but they are staying at Jill's place.

Ms. Jill assigned Jakes a couple of jobs for the day and they were off and running.  It was a wonderful day at the farm, lots of lessons to be given even with being short-handed in trainers.  Jakes gave a lesson to Timmy on Brutis, Megan gave Jakes a lesson on Buttons.  All the kids worked together to make sure all the lessons were given and everyone was happy.  They even ran pretty much on time!

We have a standing joke with Ms. Jill that her little piece of heaven runs on its own time.  None of us parents mind it because the farm is such a relaxing place to be, we just expect to hang out under the tree and chat for a while.  Its lovely.

When Jakes got home to his fathers, he checked Facebook and was going to message his trainer only to find that she had unfriended him.  He called me SOBBING because she didn't want to be his friend.  He felt hurt and used by those two.  I validated his feelings and let him rant and rave about it.  I agreed that it wasn't handled appropriately.  I also reminded him that in time, he would be able to forgive them and move on.  I reminded him that Ms. Jill will forgive them eventually too, that it is the right thing to do.  But that he is entitled to be hurt.   

A while later, Jakes let me know that he was okay.  I thought it was all over and done with.  This morning, I was dragged into the drama.  sigh.

Jakes had sent a very appropriate message to one of the instructors who had just left, expressing his anger and frustration with the situation.  He also stood up for his friends who had been hurt by their actions.  I didn't have any problem with what he sent.  I was proud of his message and I hope it helped him to come to terms with the situation.

But the Instructor did and she messaged me to correct Jakes. I told her I didn't see anything wrong with what he wrote but that if she did, she could feel free to address her concerns to him or just block him on Facebook.  Well, then I got a message from her MOTHER, who was another instructor who left the farm.  I didn't bother to read it.  I don't have time for their temper-tantrums. I just need to get Jakes to block both of them and to move on.

Jakes had already blocked them and once Facebook got over its technical difficulties, I blocked them as well.  I can only hope we are done with the drama created by immature adults and that we can move on with the good life at the farm each weekend.

The Down and Out Horse Limbo Competition

 At the farm, the trainers are riders as well as trainers.  Ms. Tori has won at Devon previously.  She looks marvelous on a horse, any horse!  Some where along the trail to the Barn Show a challenge was issued.  The students could out jump the trainers.  Challenge Accepted.

In the Down and Out Competition, the bar is started low.  Each time you make the jump you proceed to the next higher level.  If you miss the bar, you're out.  Whoever jumps the highest and is still in, wins.

First up, at a low level was Emily.

Emily on Buttons. She has been riding for about a month.  On her first ride at the Farm, Buttons decided he wanted to go over a jump.  Emily stayed right with him and is HOOKED!

Next up was Ms. Tori.  She makes it look easy.

Here is Eva and Milkshake.  Shake is her favorite horse at the farm and they have a special bond.

They moved the bar up a little higher and Emily was out.  This left Ms. Tori (trainer) and Eva (Student)

Good clearance, Ms. Tori!

Fabulous Jump, Eva!

They moved the bar to the highest level.  Ms. Tori went first.

And she MISSED!  Ut oh! Now Eva has to make the jump to be declared the winner

And she clears it with space to spare.  And judging by Jakes reaction, you'd think he jumped it himself.

What a beautiful smile!  You did great today, Eva!

 Suzanne is a mom of Emily.  Suzanne loves to ride herself and has just started back in the saddle.  She wanted to participate in the Down and Out with Emily.  So she got her own category, Horse Limbo.

Suzanne all saddled up and ready to go.

Way to go Pumpkin!  Let's see how low you can go!

And that's just one of the many ways we have fun at the Farm.  There is always much laughter and love in this little corner of heaven on earth.  Jakes and I were truly blessed when we were sent here.

The Barn Show

There was a Barn Show at the Farm this past weekend.  Jakes worked the Farm and I took pictures. I ended up taking over 600 pictures!  Don't worry, I am only going to share a few of them.  ENJOY!

The Gear all lined up and ready for horses

Every Ride starts with a prayer.  Everyone grabs hands or horse

Eva and Freckles.  I love Eva's seat on any horse. She just melds with them.

Megan brings her dancers grace to the ring.  She is riding Hershey who is a throughbred and can be temperamental at times. Megan makes him mind and won't let him bully her.  They are a beautiful pair

Jakes worked the gate for the show and did a wonderful job

Megan and Hershey walking in the morning sunshine/fog

This is Ms. Jill. Trust me, she's under there.

Here are some of the Therapeutic Riders. Everyone gets a leader and a side walker. They do wonderful and fun things on the back of the horse.

They even ride backwards with no hands.  Its great for the balance and to strengthen the torso muscles.

Buttons had a crush on Ms. Erica, our judge.  Or was he just trying to get more points for his riders?

here are the littlest therapeutic riders.  They are so tiny and SO good at riding!  They get a leader and TWO side walkers.  Don't want anyone taking a header off the ponies.

Of course, I'd want to ride horses all the time if I got to play fun games like basketball!  That's TWO points for Juliana!

I mean, look at that face!  Riding is FUN, not therapy!

Tomorrow we'll talk about horse limbo and the Down and Out Competition.

Jumping For Joy

Jakes has been doing riding lessons for about 3 years now.  He's been through several teachers over the years.  They have all been great teachers and he's learned things from them all.  One day we arrived to find another new teacher, Miss Torri.  She's been riding since she was 8 months old.  WOW!  Miss Torri brought her mother with her.  Miss Eileen has worked with horses and in many barns over the years.  She has been away from it for a long time.

Being at Ms Jill's farm is a healing experience.  And the farm worked its magic on Ms. Eileen as well.  She stood there watching all the kids, the ones taking lessons and the ones who were there early to work for their lessons. 

Ms. Jill was running behind on some lessons and asked Ms. Eileen to step in and help out.  It all came back to Ms. Eileen and she was in heaven.  She didn't realize how much she had been missing this until she stepped into the ring. 

That was three weeks ago and she has given Jakes his lessons every week that they've both been there.  She fell in love with my Jakes and who wouldn't?   He fell in love with her too.  Ms. Jill asked him to work with Ms Eileen, making sure she had the horses she needed, etc. 

Jakes and Eileen formed a wonderful team.  Ms. Eileen would be in the middle of the ring, tracking the progress of the horse and rider with Jakes walking (or running) beside the horse in case the rider needed assistance.  He listened to everything that Ms. Eileen was telling the rider and would help to remind the rider of their position, helping them to correct it before Ms. Eileen could. Ms. Eileen loved that Jakes was learning everything she was putting down for the other riders and she wanted to see if he would be able to apply it to his lessons.

For the last three weeks, Ms. Eileen has been giving Jakes his lessons and I have seen SO MUCH progress in him!  With the other teachers, Jakes would say "I'm not ready" and they wouldn't push him.  Ms. Eileen has been working on Jakes confidence and comfort with the horses and he has been trotting (something he was afraid of) and she had Jakes CANTERING this weekend!  He didn't realize it but he was!  Jakes even JUMPED this weekend!!!  And he went back begging to do it again.  Ms. Eileen has been a godsend for my Jakes. 



Jakes on Milkshake with Ms. Eileen instructing him

During Jakes lesson, Ms. Eileen told him he was off his diagonal.  He said, "I know, give me a second" and he fixed it without Ms. Eileen having to tell him how!  She was impressed by my Jakes.  I am impressed with my Jakes. ( I have NO clue what the diagonal is but as long as Jakes does, that's all I need to know) 

Here is the video Ms. Jill took when Jakes went over the jump. Sorry its so small. But I am still proud of the progress my Jakes has made!

At the end of the day, everyone gathers under the trees to chat and enjoy the delicious breezes that are ALWAYS at the farm.

The Gathering Tree

I have said time and again, how blessed we are to have found Ms. Jill's farm. There is just so much good being done there. Ms. Jill's mantra is "with God all things are possible."  And she is right. 

God does watch over this little farm and its inhabitants and visitors.

Say a prayer with me that He continues to watch over this little piece of Heaven on Earth.

Summer Cuts

Remember these lovely pups from the Farm?  Lots of fur to scratch!




One is named Snowball



And the other is Frosty

I can't tell the difference but Jakes can.  It doesn't matter.  They are still loveable no matter what you call them.  I imagine with all the fur, they get hot when as soon as it gets warm.  So Ms. Jill takes them for their summer cuts and this is what comes out.

Lookit how Skinny they look without their FUR!



Sweet Face!

Teaching

Since we're finally back to riding lessons, Jakes wants to spend as much time at the Farm as possible. I don't blame him as its something he loves and is good at.  So imagine how happy he was when Jill texted to ask if he could stay until 1 on Saturday.

An old picture of Jakes on Pumpkin

She explained she had a new student starting, who was about Jakes age and supposedly has trouble making friends.  He loves horses (like Jakes) and Jill thought putting the two together would be a good thing.  And I would never say no to Jill with all she does for Jakes.

Jakes greeted the new kid (NK) and Jill got him up on Pumpkin.  Jakes led the horse to the practice ring they were using and followed Jill's instructions.  Jakes was encouraging to NK and yelled at me for bring Jaxon back to the ring.  Silly boy.

One of FOUR big doggies at Jill's and Jaxon
her dogs are SO gentle!

When the lesson was done, Jakes worked with NK to teach him to unsaddle pumpkin.  Jakes showed NK what needed to be done and allowed NK to do it.  He did help NK with the saddle, I don't think NK was ready for the weight.  They went together to put the saddle in the tack shack.  Then Jakes got the brushes out and showed NK how to brush the horse.  And the let NK do the brushing. 

I was SO proud of Jakes for teaching and not just doing.  While they were doing, they chatted about Pumpkin and his likes and dislikes; about horses and how they like to roll in the dirt. NK had lots of questions and wanted to learn.

My kid is doing so much lately to make his momma proud!  He's growing into a wonderful young man!

Farm Stories

Jakes loves going to the farm for riding lessons.  He loves being able to stay after the lessons to work with the horses and the teachers.  And they love having him there too.  If anything needs to be done, Jakes is right there to help.

Pumpkin is Jakes buddy.  He loves Pumpkin and Pumpkin loves him.  Jakes was having a lesson on Nugget and another helper was out trying to catch Pumpkin.  Pumpkin was being contrary and didn't want to be caught.  Ms. Jill sent Jakes out to help.  Pumpkin came right over to Jakes and let him harness and lead him into the ring for work.

When Pumpkin was finished for the day, Jakes led him back into the pasture and Jakes scratched Pumpkin in his special spot.  Pumpkin LOVED it!  He stretched his head up and nickered.  And when Jakes was done, said good-bye, Pumpkin turned and nudged Jakes in response.

I watched Jakes riding around the ring on Nugget.  He was steering him and working the course all by himself.  I was amazed!  The last time I watched Jakes on a horse, he had to be lead and guided by one of the teachers.  Ms. Jill said he's gotten so much better.  This weekend, I will stick around and get some pictures of him.

There is a wonderful young man, David who is blind and has other special needs.  David loves riding.  David's grandmother loves Jakes and how he is with David. Jakes is gentle with David, he tells him where to walk, step and helps to hold him in the saddle.  Jakes and David are about the same age so they get along and chat about "boy" things.  Jakes considers David a friend.

One day at the farm, Jakes was helping to hold Pixie in the saddle.  Pixie is a 3 year old autistic girl and she is just adorable.  She doesn't make eye contact but she knows there is a world out there.  She will respond when you talk to her and she will answer questions.   Her dad wanted to demonstrate how smart she is.  She was standing over at a KIA van when her dad asked her to show him the K-I-A.  She pointed to each one and started to walk away.  Her dad asked her to point to the numbers on the license plate.  She was already "done" with showing off, but she still turned and waved her hand in the general direction of the car.

On the day that Jakes was holding her in the saddle, Ms. Jill was telling her that they were done and it was time to get off.  Pixie put her arms around Jakes neck for him to lift her off the horse.  She made eye contact with him when he stood her on the ground.  So Sweet!

Last week, Jakes made an obstacle course for the other helpers and then he judged them as they went through the course.  He also made up prizes and some were very creative.  I was impressed with his imagination.  I loved that the other kids were willing to play with him, working it in around their chores.

Jakes loves going to the farm, not only for the horses but also because he is accepted and valued by everyone, not just the adults.  I love Jakes going to the farm because he has a place where he loves to go and feels accepted and valued, by everyone.