The horses kissed Lora Hedrich and nuzzled her neck. They were excited to see her. Hedrich’s dog Hunter roamed around, keeping his distance from any hooves. Some of the horses were wearing coats, as it was still chilly out, but the sun was shining across the pastures.
Hedrich owns and runs Rosewood Equine in Greenfield, a few miles past the center of town. She teaches lessons and boards a couple horses on the 30-acre property, mostly wooded with trails running through the trees. Hedrich grew up around horses and learned to ride young. Her mom loved them, and Hedrich said riding and competing was “always a family affair.”
As she got older, the passion stuck. Hedrich attended University of New Hampshire to get a degree in equestrian business management, and when she graduated she knew she wanted to start her own farm.
“We’re a very beginner-friendly farm,” she said.
Hedrich teaches a lot of children and hopes to give them a “great foundation and confident start” to their riding lives. But she also has students at higher levels and was getting ready to bring six riders and horses to a competition in Connecticut in May. Hedrich will also be competing.
Hedrich said children can learn so much from horses.
“They teach kids about partnership, perseverance, working with a huge animal and taking a leadership role,” she said.
Horses are herd animals. They are generally social, aware of their surroundings and sensitive to the emotions of those around them.
“They’re very attuned to where people are and how people are feeling,” said Kris Young, executive director of Touchstone Farm. Touchstone Farm is a not-for-profit in Lyndeborough that specializes in therapeutic riding. They have about 30 horses on the farm and give therapeutic lessons every day.
Young said the organization’s mission is to “work to make connections with humans and equine,” which has been beneficial to people on the autism spectrum, veterans and people with disabilities.
Young said, “It helps people who are feeling no connection at all” start to feel connected and to communicate, to “be with [horses], aware of them, join with them.”
At Aurora Farm in Hancock, Samantha Walton also works with children on the autism spectrum. She said horses are amazing therapy animals.
“I see a lot of growth, how to regulate feelings and express those feelings,” she explained.
She said children on the autism spectrum respond well to riding bareback so they can really “feel the energy” of the horse, and now she said all the others want to ride bareback, too.
Walton teaches lessons to students ranging in age from 7 to 70, riders of all levels. Some of her students, like herself, have taken long breaks from riding but have started again in their adult lives.
“My specialty is getting people back into riding,” she said.
When Walton is around horses and teaching, “I’m in my happy place.”
She said it’s incredible to see confidence come out in children when they spend time with horses and learn how to work with them. Walton said they start to realize, “I can handle this big animal, I can do this.” They recognize that they’re capable of more than they thought.
And on her farm, she teaches her students to care for the horses; they don’t just ride and leave. She believes the responsibility is really important and parents have had a positive response.
Walton said, “I love the connection with horses, the confidence, bravery, energy.”
Hedrich said a horse can sense when a rider is inexperienced or nervous.
“Their job in life is to read emotion,” she said. “You are sitting on their central nervous system, their center of gravity. They can feel us.”
She explained that a rider only needs to make small movements and adjustments to communicate with a horse and to give them directions. They should be in tune with each other.
Horse farms also offer a way to get children outside. Walton said she got “a lot of phone calls from parents during the pandemic” trying to find a COVID-safe activity.
Hedrich said she observed how important it was for children to take a break from screens to spend time with the horses outside. She teaches lots of students with anxiety and fear, and said working with horses and growing comfortable around them really helps.
Walton said one of her students is very shy and “I’m just astounded at the confidence I now see in her.”
And riding can be a lifelong activity. Young started taking lessons when she was 8 at Touchstone Farm, then based in Temple. As she got older, she worked in the barn on weekends. “I just love animals, being able to connect on that level. I trust them with my life, and they trust me with theirs too.”
She explained that the “barn community offers so much to kids,” from developing a work ethic to “building a sense of community within the community.”
Touchstone Farm is always looking for volunteers to help care for the horses on the farm. If interested, contact volunteer coordinator Heather Goode at hgoode@touchstone-farm.org.
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