Horse Farm Field Trip

We have been studying farm animals for our nature study at The Cottage and this past week we learned about horses. First off we went on a field trip to Fellowship Farm. This farm had quite a big operation and almost all the horses there were dressage horses... definitely not your regular plow horse! This is what wikipedia says about dressage: "it is a path and destination of competitive horse training, with competitions held at all levels from amateur to the Olympics. Its fundamental purpose is to develop, through standardized progressive training methods, a horse's natural athletic ability and willingness to perform, thereby maximizing its potential as a riding horse. At the peak of a dressage horse's gymnastic development, it can smoothly respond to a skilled rider's minimal aids by performing the requested movement while remaining relaxed and appearing effortless. Dressage is occasionally referred to as "Horse Ballet"." These horses spend many years in training in order to compete and it really is amazing to me how much a horse can be taught to do.
The kids mostly learned about the daily chores required when caring for a horse and got to see many of these chores being performed. They also learned about some of the mannerisms of horses- like how they will put their ears back if they aren't sure about you, but they will put their ears up if they are comfortable with you...and not all horses sleep standing up (though most do), however there was one horse at this farm that sleeps lying down and snores very loudly!
When we met for our co-op a few days later we talked mostly about the different jobs that horses can have. We talked about plow horses, police horses, pack horses, herding horses, therapy horses etc. Then the kids discussed what they remembered from our field trip and then they drew horses in their nature journals. For the poetry reading Elijah read a poem by Carl Sandburg called Plowboy because his heart leans more towards the farm horse- it paints a beautiful picture...

PLOWBOY

After the last red sunset glimmer,
Black on the line of a low hill rise,
Formed into moving shadows, I saw
A plowboy and two horses lined against the gray,
Plowing in the dusk the last furrow.
The turf had a gleam of brown,
And smell of soil was in the air,
And, cool and moist, a haze of April.

I shall remember you long,
Plowboy and horses against the sky in shadow.
I shall remember you and the picture
You made for me,
Turning the turf in the dusk
And haze of an April gloaming.