When you live in a college town, you adapt to change as students, teachers and farm helpers come and go as semesters begin and end.  And so we say goodbye to our graduating helper, Zach, and welcome our new resident cowgirl, Willow.  This delights me to no end because  I got to know Willow's mom and their family almost ten years ago when we first moved to Fort Collins and Willow brought her horse Clifford to board at Laughing Buck as a teenager.  Now she is BACK, living here on the farm next to her horse, and teaching in our summer camps.    Welcome back, Willow.  I am as happy as Clifford is to have you here on the farm. ~FarmHer Rosemary

From Willow:
"Hi there! My name is Willow, and I am so excited to be spending the summer helping kiddos have some of the experiences that were the best parts of my childhood, and that shaped me into who I am today! I'm especially excited to get to play with the horses together, as they've been my biggest passion since I can remember. I started riding when I was 6, and grew up doing everything from English to barrel racing in 4-H. Then when I was 13 I got Clifford who is the best horse in the world, and is lucky enough to be living at Laughing Buck to this day. He has taught me so much more than I could have ever imagined and I'm so glad that he can do the same for other kiddos now. When I was 15, I got an internship with a reining trainer and spent two years doing that, which is what gave me the passion for both reining and for training horses and watching them learn and grow to be amazing partners. Training is what I eventually want to spend my life doing, but for now I am just so glad to be back at the farm! Here's to an awesome summer!"

Do we have any 4H kids or adults out there?   4H was a big part of my childhood growing up in Ohio and I am thrilled to help lead a 4H group here at Laughing Buck Farm. The hands-on approach to learning also works so well with our  homeschool daytime farm class.  I love how the kids are now able to catch, halter and lead their horses safely and comfortably these days.  Springtime means vaccinations and deworming  so we scheduled our vet, Dr. Laura Brinton of Adobe Equine, to come out during class to demonstrate.  We are also learning about horse breeds, parts of the horse and saddle and  horse markings.  We'll get more practice grooming and cleaning tack next week.   Ah, spring! 

I've gathered some online resources for learning parts of the horse, markings, breeds and parts of the saddle for kids who want to practice at home.  Check it out and let me know in the comments if you have any to add to my list.

Parts of the horse, markings
http://www.everything-dream-horse.com/horse-anatomy.html

Kid games and quizzes: horse  breeds, colors,  parts of the western saddle
http://www.equisearch.com/discoverhorses/for-kids/games-quizzes

Parts of the saddle
https://bitnbridle.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/4-h-saddle-test.pdf