I know when to admit failure. At the end of the year, I came to terms with the fact that one of the curses of social media was the havoc that it wreaks on the ability of kids to read and learn passages that are more than a sentence or two followed by a scantily clad young person twirling on the screen. While I had no plans to reduce my attire and twirl, I had hoped that by turning the blog into a vlog we would be able to reach more young people.
I have not doubt that that is true.
However, a blog requires the work of more than one person and a blog does not.
So the blog is re booting and returning to print--and just in time to announce our homeschool program for the fall of 2023.
Mill Swamp Indian Horses is the program name of Gwaltney Frontier Farm, Inc, a 501 (c5) breed conservation program where we work to preserve and promote nearly extinct strains of Colonial Spanish Horses, the first horses to come to America. We also have a range of other rare, historic livestock including Spanish goats, early colonial Sheep, Highland cattle, and hogs. We teach riding lessons on Saturdays. Programs also include horse training, and hoof care. In addition to riding, we use our horses in trauma informed sessions with those who are inpatient in the Hampton Veterans Hospitals PTSD program.
Our educational sessions in the home school program are intended to provide meaningful information to those as young as four while still being structured in a way such that a seventeen-year-old student can learn and be entertained at the same time. We teach leadership and teamwork and constantly strive to demonstrate the value of hard work and learning, not as punishment or drudgery, but as an opportunity to become part of something bigger than ourselves.. We do not have separate sessions to teach courage, honesty, compassion, empathy, generosity, and resilience, because everything that we do in the program is tied to building those character traits. I encourage you to look at the video links that I have set out at the end of this email.
The Friday Program (sometimes referred to as the Home School Program) runs from 9-2 each Friday, year-round, weather permitting. Beginning in September of 2024 we will expand our program to include more local field trips and special guests. It is a unique learning experience for young people that covers the gamut from soil and water conservation, historic agricultural techniques, livestock care, history, introduction to philosophy, examination of the various ecosystems on the farm, microbial pasture development, wildlife habitat creation and preservation, and even a bit of folk, blues, roots, and old-time music. Participants learn to work together on major projects like wildlife habitat development, fence building and repair, compost creation and worm farming,
Tam began in our homeschool program and is now a young adult. Here is what she wrote about the program a few years ago:
"Last year, a homeschool link came up on my mom’s computer. It was about a place in Smithfield, stating that there were Colonial Spanish mustangs, along with a homeschool program. It seemed like a really nice place to visit, and it would be the first time we saw horses in a long time. Moving 800 miles to a different state was full of stress, long nights, and uncertainty, so my mom figured that being around horses would help.
The farm looked nothing like I had imagined. No painted white fence, no golf course grass, and no stables. Instead, there was the unfinished log fencing on the new land, diverse grass, and pastures. It was simple, and laid back. So were the people I met.
Week after week, we worked on the hugelkultur, made cinches or Stone Age tools, worked on the new land, or worked with horses. The homeschool program gave me a lot of important information that came in handy while riding. About 2 months later, we started the actual riding part, then joined the music program. It was interesting to learn about instruments that I had never seen before, and learning about the Carter family.
It’s been about a year, and I’ve learned so much about natural horsemanship, history, psychology, science, history, and music. I play instruments that I never thought I could play. I ride horses that I used to not know about..
And the farm is now a second home"
The fee for all of our programs is only $160.00 per month per family. Everything that we do is done by volunteers. We have no paid staff, only a group of experienced horse people and hard-working volunteers.
For further information on our program please see our website at http://www.millswampindianhorses.com, our group facebook page "Mill Swamp Indian Horses" and for nearly fifteen years of posts on our program take a look at our blog, Mill Swamp Indian Horse Views. You can find a great discussion of our efforts to preserve these horses at https://www.facebook.com/livestockconservancy/videos/1417489765308290 . I was very honored to receive the Citizen of the Year Award which was given primarily due to the work of our program at Mill Swamp Indian Horses. Here is a link to a great short film made about that honor. Steve Edwards ~ Smithfield First Citizen 2022 - YouTube
If you would like to schedule a time to come out and see how we do things please send an email to msindianhorses@aol.com
Steve Edwards
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