Holly Farm

Merlin left today for a mini-adventure! Back up to Aunt Jhesika for a little 3 week boot camp, then home again in late June.

This is in preparation for a much bigger adventure though… because in August, he’ll move with long-time student and staff member Maddy, as she goes to college! Maddy and Merlin will be headed to the University of Montana Western to study Natural Horsemanship. This is the product of years of hard work and studying by Maddy, and it’s an amazing privilege that Merlin gets to join her in this next phase of learning.

I have been asked over and over whether I’ll miss him. The answer is, oh my gosh of course yes ❤️ Merlin has been perhaps my greatest teacher in the past 5 years, and he’s the most special guy in the world. But missing him doesn’t mean sad - the overwhelming feeling is optimism and excitement. For a homegrown guy who’s the trainers horse (always the last one to get attention), what he needs most now is life experience and time, two things he and Maddy will get together. I couldn’t be more grateful, and of course, he can come home anytime 🫶

So once he’s back, we’ll soak up all the Merlin and Maddy time we can get before they head off… if you want to keep up with their adventures, you can follow along ➡️ .merlin.and.montana

Such a honor to have Lhanze come down to guide many of us (horses and humans) over our first lil jumps!

We had horses of all types - from drafts to mustangs to gypsies to warmbloods - and Lhanze was so positive and supportive of each horse + rider pair. Everyone came out with lots of homework and a whole new world of things to play with. I wasn’t able to get videos of everyone, but all nine riders had an amazing time. We can’t wait to drag Lhanze back down here soon!

We still have spots available for our Spring Break Farm Camp on April 10th! If your kiddo has off, send them to our farm to hang out with Hazel the goat, Cocoa the guinea pig, and more friendly animals.

We also have a few spots left for our Riders Workshop (for current riding students only) on April 6th. The theme is Hit The Trails!

These will be our last One Day Camps for the school year. It’s been awesome to see so many kids come out to spend their days off of school with us 😊