Margret Matry's incredible story about our program in the Virginian Pilot went viral. The result is that we are being contacted from people across the country who are interested in building a program like ours.
Nothing could be more important to me. The key point for people to take away from what we do is that it is easy. It is doable. It is affordable.
It does require that the program be the absolute focus of one's life. A life has to focus on something so why not something that really matters in the lives of other people.
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I am sort of a hyperactive information junkie..my time would likely be better spent studying the accumulated knowledge of Man..but I tend to read alot of current events and an eclectic mix of information about agriculture, nature, and history. Presents a decidedly weird world view...Average Joe (not the horse, the man) or Joanne in this country today remains an honest and caring person, probably one made overly wary by an increasingly complex, (and probably corrupt, but I digress) society, one that taken en macro marginalizes and forces it's members into molds and compartments.
Mill Swamp is a place as refreshing as cold lemonade on a July day...a place where people are just people, brought together by the common bond of horses, and with a common goal of building strong kids, who are self posessed and confident in themselves.
we often say how great it would be if every kid had this sort of opportunity...a chance to be exceptional, not exeptional in the eyes of "Them," exceptional in the eyes of "Themselves." I believe that the greatest thing I will see in my middle age here is the advancement and expansion of the concepts that Mill Swamp is founded in. Folks, you can do this. Not alone. But you can do this. To dust off a timeworn cliche..it takes a village. For those who are considering begining a similar program..if you are not already familiar with the term, go look up the concept of "Unbuntuu" or "I am because we are." As beautiful an idea as man has ever had.
Exercising my addiction to information, this morning I read an article, an opinion piece, written by a very progressive educator on the subject of experiential education...an idea which is very much against the grain of modern education, neat rows of desks with silently toiling students learning mechanically. Folks, we are not mechanical beings, we are organic, and spiritual beings, tactile and engaged..until we are disengaged. This is what we do at Mill Swamp..The fancy word Experiential Education boils down to "Get on that pony and ride." Steve had founded something that has touched hundreds, if not thousands of lives already, in a very positive way...but I know, through observing him pretty carefully over the last year,(It will be a year in about 12 days..best year of my life.)that learning and growing, teaching and helping kids and adults has enriched his life more than most. True wealth is not measured in dollars..it is measured in the world we create around us. This is the real benefit of doing what we do. When I see Joyah saddle up Skyco or Baton Rouge, or Atilla going about his day with the unrestrained enthusiasm he brings to everything, or watch the older girls work a horse with icy calm, confidence and love..it gives me hope, I see a race of man in them that is worthy of more than the sum of the parts. You can have that. What are you waiting for? -Lloyd
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