Hayley's Gifts at Work

Hi! Sorry I have been missing for so long. We've been traveling or sick but I promise to stick around for a while this time. A couple of Sunday's ago I was happy to have Rylie, who read my blog and wanted to come volunteer, out to LEARN to show her around. We started at the pony barn and it was hard work! First we started by grooming Rudy and boy was he dirty. I showed Rylie how to use the different brushes and my Mom showed her how to pick his hooves. Doesn't he look pretty after all that brushing?

Rudy giving Rylie some pony love

Next we mucked out the stalls. Is it weird that we had fun doing that too? We also washed out each stall's water bucket and refilled them with fresh water. Thankfully, there are only 3 stalls to clean or we may have been there all day. It is important for the horse's health to have a clean stall and fresh water every day.

Rylie and me with the manure scoops

After the barn was done, we went out to the pasture and cleaned all outdoor water buckets. These also need fresh water daily and regular cleaning because they get gross pretty fast. These ponies may be small but they still drink a lot of water!

Rylie cleaning buckets

Me filling the outdoor water bucket

After all of our hard work, it was time for a little fun. I taught Riley how to put a halter and lead line on Rudy and she got to learn the correct way to lead a horse.

Learning to put on the halter

Rylie asking Rudy to walk

Rylie looks like a pro!

When we were done walking Rudy around the pasture, I introduced Rylie and her Mom to the other horses that live at the pony barn. Everyone had such good manners and they loved meeting new friends! Rylie and her Mom had some more time so we went down to meet the big horses in Meggett. We stopped at the mare's pasture first. The girls were really hungry so we got to help Mrs. Janice feed. We helped mix up the grain in the first set of feed pans and then we took turns putting two scoops of chopped hay in the second set of feed pans. Once they had feed it was safe to go with our Mom's out to brush some of the big girls.

Rylie's mom, Mrs. Kim and Laddie

Rylie and Ellie brushing Allie



Rylie, Ellie, me and Allie



After hanging out with the girls for a while we went over to the main LEARN property to see the boys. It was feeding time for them as well. Our moms did this while I showed Rylie my favorite dirt mound to play in! Sometimes you just have to have fun! Boy did we have fun but we were a little too dirty which made our mom's a little upset but that is what kids are supposed to do, right??? We worked hard then we played hard and my hope is that Rylie and her Mom come back very soon. Taking care of the horses is a lot of work but when you have friends to help, it takes no time at all!! Thanks Rylie for coming out to meet all my horse friends at LEARN!

Mom's Note:

Hayley and I are so appreciative to Rylie and her mom, Kim, for taking their afternoon to come out and see what LEARN is all about. Hayley's Gifts is a LEARN program in its infancy. Our goal with Hayley's Gifts is to educate and expose the youth of the lowcountry to the world of horses and proper horse care. We hope to educate and inspire the horse owners of tomorrow. There are several ways we are trying to accomplish this. One way, is through having youth volunteers and teaching them through one on one interaction, just like Rylie. Another is by giving presentations to groups like the girl scouts/boy scouts. We welcome any group out to the LEARN farm or we can come to you.

The final way and truly how Hayley's Gifts was started is by fostering the gift of giving. If you or someone you know is interested in having a birthday party that benefits the horses, we would love to help. We are going to be offering pony parties that benefit the rescues 100%. Hayley and some of our other LEARN youth ambassadors are willing and able to come and teach their peers a horse 101 kind of class. So not only will your party guests get the experience of riding but they will have hands on time with some of our rescue ponies. It is certainly different and will have a lasting effect on your guests. If you would like more information about Hayley's Gifts, please don't hesitate to contact me at charlotteblairwest@yahoo.com. Take it from this proud momma...it is a LIFE CHANGING experience!