Teachers Mark, April, Ruby and Bob, lead by student teamsters Sarah, Jenny, Emma and Ally, are excited to be walking over to their harnessing barn once again.
As I juggle managing the care of 30+ horses, all the trainings, wagon jobs, trimmings, sooo many kids, different personalities, the UMass Program, and begin to think about growing food this year, I can't help but think of how Pam makes it all look so easy. This year, Pam has committed to a wonderful, daily blog called The Learning Curve. That's right, she did it! The captain of the ship committed to writting 7 days a week. That's 366 entries over this next year! That's a daunting challenge, and Pam is very good at doing this with grace. Me, not so much! I figured I shouldn't have any trouble keeping up with one entry per week over the next semester. Well, easier said than done, but here I am doing the best that I can.
This was an exciting week at Introduction to Draft Horses. I am happy to see that the roster has almost filled up. We now have 7 students in class: Sarah, Meagan, Nell, Emma, Ally, Drew, Jordan, and Jenny is our TA. Over the course of the semester we will all learn a bit more about these future teamsters, and will be following their journey with draft horses. I know that this group is very excited to be working with Blue Star Equiculture's most professional teams. There is no doubt that this group will grow into great horse-people.
Being a great horseman is a great responsibility. This is one practice that I plan on revisiting again and again in class this semster, "Taking Responsibility". Great horse-people take responsibility for their horses... they always show up, it's never too cold, and they're never too sick to make sure their horses needs are met. There are many ways we can take responsibiltiy! Join the herd and take responsibility!
Stay tuned for next weeks entry. We will be harnessing and ground driving in class, which should provide some exciting video!