There has never been a learning experience to compare with the home school program at Mill Swamp Indian Horses. Each Friday from 9-2 students are exposed to a range of topics that on any given day could range from history to philosophy, to wildlife habitat construction, to conservation and preservation of nearly extinct strains of early colonial horses and livestock, to music, to microbial pasture development, to natural horsemanship, all on a farm designated as a certified wildlife habitat.
Students range in age from five years old on up to older teenagers. Full family participation is encouraged. That is why the fee structure is only $100.00 per family per month. Parents may stay and participate in all of our programs. Mill Swamp Indian Horses is a program of Gwaltney Frontier Farm, a nonprofit corporation with no paid staff. Pack lunch, dress to be able to walk in woods and pasture and wear clothes that are great for play--and work.
Kids participate in helping with special programming like our annual sheep shearing program with our rare, heritage Hog Island and Leichester sheep. They can learn how horses can be used to bring peace to people with anxiety and PTSD by helping with our weekly sessions with patients in the PTSD program at the Hampton Veterans Hospital.
Kids learn solid information on health, exercise and nutrition and come together for special events like our January 1, ten-mile hike in the Dismal Swamp as shown above.
The community has really come together to support our program with the understanding that we are more than just a riding lesson program. We are a cultural and educational institution dedicated to bringing the best of the past into the present for young people today. Our book barn, which stores our educational materials and records, was constructed by, and completely paid for by the Smithfield and Suffolk Rotary clubs.
And program participants learn the joy of hard working and working together. Improving wildlife habitat, constructing and repairing fences, planting pastures by hand and clearing land for new forage opportunities- these are a few of the kinds of projects that the kids learn to do and to take pride in
Riding is not the focus of the homeschool program, but program participants learn natural horsemanship. they learn to understand the mind of a horse. They learn that building a relationship with a horse or donkey is the perfect model for using empathy and sound communication skills in building relationships with other people. Natural horsemanship is used to create good horses and better people.
And participants in the Home School Program help with what is one of our major missions, working to prevent the extinction of several strains of historic Colonial Spanish Horses, including the Banker horses whose ancestors arrived in the New World a century before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Choctaw horses whose ancestors carried the Indians of the southeast on the Trail of Tears, Marsh Tacky horses whose ancestors were ridden by Patriot forces during the American Revolution, and the remnant of the Grand Canyon horses.
And all of this for only $100.00 per family per month. We have never turned a family away for inability to pay program fees. If the program fee is beyond your family's budget you may pay a monthly fee that is within that budget. To register send an email to msindianhorses@aol.com.
