A Home School Mystery

Mill Swamp Indian Horses, in Smithfield, Va is part of a nonprofit breed conservation program that works to prevent the extinction of rare, historic strains of Colonial Spanish Horses along with other heritage livestock. Among its many programs are the weekly Homeschool programs. The program offers unique educational opportunities that promote physical, intellectual and ethical growth for young people (and their parents). Here is a brief description of the events in last week's program. The morning started at 9:00 am with the collection and weighing of organic material that participating families brought in for the program's vermicomposting projects The program, which is a certified wildlife habitat site, uses no chemical herbicides or commercial fertilizers in its pastures. The compostables were added to the 250 gallon container that houses the compost and composting worms. Later in the morning approximately 300 pounds of horse manure was added to the compost. 

 The families then got together on the tack shed porch for a discussion of the impact that the study of philosophy had on the Founding fathers and how Madison's view of the limitations of individual virtue lead to the growth of the two-party system of government in America. The kids then used the boards from an old pallet to paint bits of song lyrics on them to place in and around the pastures. The short lines of lyrics will serve to prompt questions from guests for years to come--e.g. "What song is that from?", "Who wrote that?" "What does that line mean and why is it in this pasture?" 

 With a bit of time on their hands two talented young musicians in the Mill Swamp Indian Horses music program pulled out a guitar and played a handful of songs. 

 As that project was wrapping up the van pulled up from the Hampton Veterans Hospital as it has done weekly, weather permitting, for over eight years. Those who are in the in-patient PTSD program at the Hampton Veterans Hospital come out to learn about trauma's impact on communication, behavior, and trust and to then work a horse in the round pen applying the lessons that are discussed in the beginning of each session. Program participants quickly catch two or three horses and bring them over to the round pen to give our guests an opportunity to meet the horses and brush them down before the program begins. 

 Support from the community is vital to keeping our programs alive and growing. The Smithfield Rotary Club is constructing a wonderful building to serve as a library to house all of our books and educational materials. Beside that construction is a cement pad for the statue of the Hardy Elementary Mustang that we are having restored. The statue has had a long role in our local history and was donated to us by the leadership of the local historical society.

 Tonight, many of our program participants will be attending a lecture by Dr. Helen Roundtree on the Powhatan Indians who lived here before my family first came over in 1635.

 The homeschool program has to remain flexible because we never know exactly what the day might bring us. A tree might have fallen on a fence, and we might have to spend hours dissecting the tree and restoring the fence. We might need to assist the vet who is coming over for shots and dental work on the horses. We might be surprised by the birth of a calf, lambs, or goat kid and need to move some of the livestock around to get the best use out of our pastures. 

 Our last session required a big adjustment in plans and tremendous flexibility. We had been invited by the PTA of Hardy Elementary School, whose mascot is a mustang, to ride a couple of mustangs in the home coming parade. The invitation came about 72 hours before the parade. I was joined by Audrey Teller, mounted and in costume, for the parade. The other program participants helped us get the horses together, tack up, get trailered and then walked along with us on the parade route--keeping an eye out for any potential danger that could come up on the parade. I knew that I could count on them to remain focused and ready to step in in case something spooked a horse or if a child ran out from the sidewalk in uncontained excitement at the sight of two beautiful Colonial Spanish horses--one a former National Pleasure Trail Horse of the Year for his registry, and the other a formerly wild horse from Shackleford Island who recently completed the prestigious Old Dominion 55 Mile Endurance event. Those who walked along with us have used their time in the program to learn to train horses to saddle and have joined in on group rides, including 7:00 am morning rides in the woods before I have to get into the office. These kids, most younger than fifteen years old have already learned principles of natural horsemanship that give them better understanding of the mind of a horse than most lifelong horse owners. 

 And all of these programs (and I have barely scratched the surface of the range of programs that we have) are all carried out with no paid staff. that is why we can offer these programs for only $160.00 per family, per month. 

 Which leaves us with a big mystery. We have room for many more homeschool families in our program. What is holding other homeschool families back from giving their kids one of the most significant opportunities for growth that they will ever have? 

 Perhaps it is because people do not know how to make the initial contact--if so, send me an email at msindianhorses@aol.com and we will arrange a time for you to bring your family out and see how we do things