WHAT WE DO
We nurture a relationship with Tarpan horses, educating the public about their legacy and fostering development of life skills. At Walnut Grove we provide a space where children and adults can learn about themselves and horses through hands-on experiences with this unique breed. Personal development and well-being are the goals of our groundwork. We occasionally mount several of the horses and give children that opportunity. This year we began partnering with the Arc of Augusta, welcoming participants who have been diagnosed with intellectual learning disabilities in the community. Our horses seem to have gentled even more with their new assignment, welcoming Arc participants.
At Walnut Grove, participants are invited to:
• Learn about Tarpan horses: trust, presence, confidence, safety, caretaking
• Communicate with a Tarpan horse from the ground
• Explore the meaning of that conversation; and
• Apply their experience to other life situations.
Our main approach is equine experiential learning, one of multiple forms of equine-assisted services that aims to benefit people. As compared to equine therapy, which falls within the domain of healthcare, experiential learning addresses educational, organizational, or personal development. We have found that groundwork helps develop the personalities of both people and horses, as suggested to us by Green Chimneys in Brewster, New York (https://www.greenchimneys.org/news-events/equine-groundwork/). Melinda received her certification from E3A.
At Walnut Grove we enjoy the volunteer assistance of Emily and Mary (Ginny) Bauman, LPC. Our horses have been coached by Caitlin Robb .
We also host Tarpan parties and Tarpan treks for small groups of children, and we are delighted to design activities on request to meet the needs of individuals or small groups of adults and children. Here are some photos of recent visitors. Tarpan horses respond especially well to children:
Two participants in the Tarpan tea party bonding with their Tarpan horses:
OUR TARPAN HORSES
All our Tarpan horses at Walnut Grove were born at Dixie Meadows Farm in 2013 and 2014. They were brought to Hope’s Legacy Equine Rescue in 2017 and to Walnut Grove in 2021. Having lived together since birth in spacious pastures with wooded areas, they do not like to be separated. We generally allow them to be fairly close to one another at all times and bring them only into open-air round pens or run-in sheds. At Walnut Grove, the small barn is for gatherings of people.
Below, Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune gallop in tandem:
-p-1080.jpg)
On hot days, they nap together in their run-in shed:
In winter, they look prehistoric:
We don’t think of our Tarpan horses as having a single leader, but as each playing an important role in their herd of geldings. Jupiter is our largest, most statuesque Tarpan horse. We call him the King. Calm, sturdy and stable, he expects to be the center of any activity and is the first to come alongside the mounting block to accommodate a child.
-p-1080.jpg)
We call Mars the General because he is usually on the lookout for his brothers, scanning the horizon, and often the first to nosily inspect visitors to the pasture. He stands ready to defend his mini herd, but he can also be very soft-hearted if approached with respect and on his terms.
Here he is casting a glance, to the left of Mercury:
Perhaps the most sensitive and gentlest of the five Tarpan horses at Walnut Grove, Mercury was unwilling to accept a halter for years. At Hope’s Legacy, Laura Satkovich (shown below) persuaded him with the rope halter she fashioned for him. Only now is he accepting to be groomed:
Mercury loves to spin and we sometimes call him the Sorcerer. His first dance was an English contredanse (so to speak):
Neptune is smaller than his cousins, especially inquisitive and quick to learn a challenging new trick, such as playing with a ball and performing Tarpan on a tarp. He is particularly nimble, as was Saturn, his brother. He will also carry a child at a slow pace and loves having his ears stroked. (photo credit to Sarah Heisey):
On August 24, 2023, a beautiful sunny day with a slight breeze, our fifth herd member, Saturn, could no longer keep up with his herd. Saturn was the son of Brightfields Solstice and Oak Grove Anysia, born at Dixie Meadows. It is fitting that his father was Solstice, since he and his four brothers were named after the planets (Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune). At Hope’s Legacy, Saturn spent much of his life happily cavorting with his brothers on a summer pasture (5 acres, with woods) and a winter pasture (9 long acres to gallop and practice formations). He attracted the attention of many volunteers and visitors. He was the smallest yet bravest of the group, stepping up first to be stroked and groomed; deftly turning through figure eights that Laura taught him; letting Emily and children ride on his back and braid his glorious mane; and trusting of Melinda to keep him safe as he explored new things. He lived his last two years at Walnut Grove, at the center of Melinda’s world and visited weekly by Emily and others who loved him. Here he is with Emily. We have written a children's book about him, that adults can also enjoy.
.jpg)
We remember our Saturn. 2014-2023. Daring, Agile, True. A Marvelous Tarpan Horse.
.png){kind=small}
.png){kind=small}
