A new venture hoping to give youth a chance at learning more about horses is now open for registration.
Empire Pony Pals, organized by Leelanau County residents Gretchen Knoblock and Michele Morris of Empire Hills Farm, said they just rescued their first two mini’s, Napoleon and Alex, in April from a downstate sanctuary called Abraham Ranch. Alex and Napoleon will head up the herd of minis for future programs that will teach youth about horsemanship in a nonriding capacity. Kids will learn all about grooming, horsecare, catch, halter and lead, and will understand horse behavior and anatomy while building relationships with the horses.
Knoblock said the venture’s objective is to provide affordable programs for youth in the county to learn about these mini’s, and hopes the program will eventually grow into a pony pals performance troupe as the herd continues to grow.
“We are very involved in caring for horses,” Knoblock said. “Michele is especially involved in rescuing horses, so we were looking for ways to become more of a community resource with her farm that revolved around what we love, which is horses.”
Knoblock said her niece participates in a similar youth performance team program that also works with mini horses. Seeing the opportunities that her niece gets working with horses, Knoblock and Morris also saw an absence of such a program in Leelanau and wanted to ensure that youth here could experience something just as rewarding.
“It’s the cutest thing you ever saw. What they do is they perform with their horses and they get assigned a horse and they perform choreographed routines with the horses… the kids usually stick with the program through high school, so they have all age ranges in there, and the older girls help the younger ones and it’s like a drill team,” she said. “The performance piece is huge, but we have to get kids into the program first, and we have to acquire the right amount of horses… Our hope is that within a year, we have got enough children that want to be involved and hopefully be able to adopt enough horses that would make viable prospects.”
Having children work with mini horses is easier as well, Knoblock added, explaining that that was the impetus to the program. It also allows them to rescue horses that need homes and care.
“We wanted it to be a place where kids could come and learn all about horses from the ground up. There’s a very special bond with these animals and understanding them,” she said. “It can open doors to other things.”
Depending on how much interest there is, Knoblock said they hope to start the pony pal program by June 1 or earlier if possible. Classes will meet once a week for an instruction session (either Tuesdays or Sundays), and kids are required to sign up for barn duty once a week outside of their regular class session for additional grooming, stall, paddock cleaning and feeding. Rate costs are $35 per week, $125 per month, or $700 for the entire seven months all paid in advance. Since the season is starting later, the fullschedule will be pro-rated.
For more information, people can follow “Empire Pony Pals” on Facebook or email empirehillsfarm@ gmail.com.
