23/05/2022
Care of Wonderful Creatures
This was no light handed lovely, fluffy wuffy, pat and strokey day, O no. Today was a real hands on, roll up your sleeves, working the land, tending to the animals, sweeping, brooming, grooming, shovelling, clearing, caring, learning day on a very real and raw working yard…… and it was fantastic!!
The base of operations, and also home to Pinky and Jenny, the 2 resident Kunekune pigs, was our little enclosed woodland haven that sits in the centre of the horse paddocks. From here, in small groups, the children entered into a rotation of hands on tasks and animal based duty’s for a real experience of working and caring for these wonderful creatures.
They poo picked the fields, filled hay nets, water buckets, and fed and groomed Jemima the Shetland pony. They had a close encounter with Broc, our 16 hand Welsh Cob during an educational talk and lunging and handling demonstration.
We learned about how the Horse turns up in near enough all mythology – whether in writing, folklore or reality. For example the eight legged horse of the Norse god Odin, Pegasus with the wings and Unicorns. That there is no other animal that has given humans the freedom of mobility like the horse. How the Celtic tradition holds the horse goddess as having power over life – the cycle of birth – death – afterlife – and rebirth. How in Shamanism the horse spirit is seen as the guide to help journey to other realms and so much more.
They say never to work with children or animals, but when you combine the 2 in this order, children working ‘with’ animals, it’s a recipe for something rather wonderful indeed!
A huge thank you to the Wildlings team, the children for all their hard work, and of course, thank you to these wonderful creatures!!
Next Wildlings session - 8th of June.
For more information and bookings, please click on the link below or in the bio:
https://eequ.org/experience/1100
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Photos by the amazing
