Feral Heart

Community => Introduction => Member Bio & Journals => Topic started by: Hooli on April 13, 2016, 03:09:05 pm

Title: First Day Volunteering
Post by: Hooli on April 13, 2016, 03:09:05 pm
As the title says, yesterday was my first day volunteering! Specifically, yesterday was my first day volunteering at the equestrian center a little down the road from me named 'Evonly Equestrian Center' or 'Spring Hollow Morgan Farms'. As the name might state, the place specializes and only deals with Morgans. It was really, really fun, so I thought I'd share a few pictures and experiences I had there on my first day! First off, the pictures:

(http://pre07.deviantart.net/b9db/th/pre/f/2016/103/2/4/12987210_1051921751513343_5234749318506481406_n_by_hooliigans-d9yt85g.jpg)
This is the very front of the place, and shows the road that you come up to get there. There's a very big pasture right out there and you get a perfect view of the horses grazing and playing.
(http://pre02.deviantart.net/2f06/th/pre/f/2016/103/9/6/13010899_1051921764846675_50932901978297527_n_by_hooliigans-d9yt85b.jpg)
This is the road coming up to the main barn on the right side of the farm. (There's two barns, the other one is for the foals and broodmares. The entire property is 185 acres!) I haven't learned the brown horse's name yet, but the black horse's name is Magic. I have another picture of her below.
(http://pre02.deviantart.net/0c6c/th/pre/f/2016/103/7/2/12974546_1051921781513340_2337650609674079170_n_by_hooliigans-d9yt85t.jpg)
This is on the side of the main barn, I haven't had a chance to meet any of these horses yet, so I haven't learned their names.
(http://pre10.deviantart.net/2911/th/pre/f/2016/103/d/9/12985528_1051921794846672_7702079636272185008_n_by_hooliigans-d9yt85q.jpg)
This is one of the main guys there. His name is Remi! He's still a stallion, and they're gonna start studding him this year to see if he produces any nice babies. He's really rambunctious, as expected from a stallion his age, but he's super pretty! They have to braid his forelock because its so long so it looks kinda goofy. We let him out into the big pasture in the first picture and he galloped around kicking up his hind legs for a few minutes, it was really funny.
(http://pre12.deviantart.net/d31b/th/pre/f/2016/103/8/3/13015122_1051921801513338_5517498156106072702_n_by_hooliigans-d9yt854.jpg)
And here's Magic! Her registered name is 'Spring Hollow Night Magic'. I haven't got a chance to interact a lot with her, but she seems really sweet so far. I wanted to get a picture of her sister, 'Spring Hollow Enchantress', or Tessa, while we were grooming her, but every time I brought my phone out she kept trying to eat it!

And that's it for the pictures! I'm probably going to get more next Tuesday.
Though there are a few more horses I'd have liked to get some pictures of.

When I first got to the barn, we drove to the other side of the farm to clean out pens, and the first two horses I met were M&M and 'Spring Hollow En Avant', or Avant. They were older, so they were really well mannered and didn't really pay too much mind to me.
But then we went into the pen with the yearlings.
Finn and Rio are the dynamic duo at this place right now, and they're definitely a handful.
Surprisingly, at first, they didn't pay too much mind to me, and let us clean the pen with ease. That is until we were getting ready to leave. Finn walked up to me to say hello, and attempted to nibble at my jacket, so of course I pulled my hand away so he couldn't, but instead of taking it as a 'no' and leaving it at that, he decided to turn it into a game of 'Chase Hooli around until she gives in'.
Luckily I was with one of the more experienced handlers there, so she quickly told him no and I was able to get out without any nibbled parts on my jacket. I have a feeling I'm gonna have a lot more fun experiences with those two.

We zoomed around the farm in a little cart.. jeep.. thing? I don't know what they're called, exactly. But it was really fun because I never really got to do that before.

We had to go grab Tessa out of one of the pens and take her up to the main barn, but what I wasn't told was that she was in a very narrow (yet long) pen with 5 other horses, so it was kind of nerve racking being surrounded by an entire herd of 1200lbs animals. Though luckily, again, I was there with Ann, the handler I was following around all day to learn the ropes. So whenever one of the horses acted up she quickly told them no. We grabbed Tessa and put her halter on, though went to check on one of the smallest horses in there, Bri, because she'd been having some weight problems. After checking on her we went back to Tessa, who had grabbed her lead and started chewing it.

So after we got her back to the barn and put her in one of the stalls, we had to groom her, though just before that she was greeted by the much smaller horse in the stall next to her, named Tucker, which she didn't take to very nicely. Hopefully they'll get along soon?

When the day was done and it was time to go home, I was so exhausted. My feet, shoulder, and back were killing me. I was ready to pass out as soon as I got home, though unfortunately I couldn't. When I finally could sleep, I hit the pillow and immediately did just that. Though now as I'm typing this, my back hurts about 3x worse than it did yesterday. Oh well! It was kind of worth it. Once all this pain goes away, I'll be able to experience it all over again next Tuesday.

Anyways, sorry for this long thread, I was just really excited and eager to share this because it was definitely one of the best experiences I've had in a while!

Title: Re: First Day Volunteering
Post by: CeramicSoul on April 13, 2016, 03:13:49 pm
Cool!!!! I wish I were there but instead..Hospital...Nice walls though.
Title: Re: First Day Volunteering
Post by: G4RG0YLE on April 13, 2016, 05:30:37 pm
I am so jealous of you for being able to work with Morgans, ahhhh! Luckyyyyy. <3
Title: Re: First Day Volunteering
Post by: ArcticGalaxy on April 13, 2016, 05:38:23 pm
Congrats on the volunteer job Kooli! Those horses are absolutely beautiful! And all horses can be a handful, even when they get older. I have an older Quarter Horse gelding that is really laid back and easygoing 95% of the time, but he can get a little playful, even at 16 years old. xD
Title: Re: First Day Volunteering
Post by: Hakumi on April 13, 2016, 06:33:09 pm
Congrats to you c:
The animals are beaut, I'm sure you're gonna have a blast there for many days to come o;
Title: Re: First Day Volunteering
Post by: Jango_Fett on April 13, 2016, 06:42:14 pm
you lucky duck

these babs look beautiful

Title: Re: First Day Volunteering
Post by: Edolicious on April 13, 2016, 06:58:48 pm
 So neat to hear you're volunteering with horses!
Title: Re: First Day Volunteering
Post by: Preach on April 13, 2016, 07:10:02 pm
Nice to hear you're volunteering. <3 Good luck :p
Title: Re: First Day Volunteering
Post by: Reaper on April 14, 2016, 11:10:26 am
I like horses, and that is good that you are volunteering. It sounds fun.