The staff at Caring For Life are very busy in their different areas, whether it is caring for the farm and livestock, working behind the scenes in various admin roles, in our two supported homes, being part of our core team of key workers, or working in the social enterprises. There is plenty to be done.
But some animals need to remain motivated as well! The Equestrian project has a number of horses and ponies and would normally be very busy each weekday, with lots of folks attending the project, caring for the horses, learning to ride or driving a carriage. The project has been strangely quiet since lockdown and the horses need to be kept motivated!
The small team caring for the horses and ponies undertake all the feeding, mucking out of stables, grooming and exercising. Their days are very full. A day may involve taking one of the ponies out in the carriage, taking the shire horses down the valley to give them a change of scenery, ensuring some of the horses and ponies are ridden or lunged and sometimes a visit from the blacksmith.
But one of the highlights for the animals (as well as us!) is a visit from one of Caring For Life’s beneficiaries. As we seek to enable more people to make a visit to the farm, to enjoy a walk round and a visit to the different animals and areas, there are likely to be some emotional reunions with the horses!
We do thank the Lord for all the project facilities we have at Caring For Life, and for animals like horses which can be so intuitive. We pray that, in time, the projects will be able to reopen and welcome people back, providing for many more people on into the future.