What exactly goes on at Mustard Seed Society? While this question should be easy to answer, it is surprisingly not. The simple response would be that we work in partnership with our horses in order to provide interactive therapeutic activities to individuals struggling with something going on in their lives. This simple answer does not encapsulate all that we do.
Therapy here does not always follow the mold associated with typical office therapy sessions. Each Wednesday, Pell City High School’s special needs program comes out to Mustard Seed Society to participate in equine activities. Every week brings different challenges and rewarding moments. There are days where every kid that arrives is happy as can be, and then there are days where there are challenges. Despite this, though, the one thing that never changes is the difference you can see in each child while they are loading the bus to head back to school.
The activities these kids participate in may seem small to an outsider looking in, but when you’re a part of it you can truly see the differences they are making in their lives. Upon arrival at the farm, the kids all come and sit down in a circle so that they can spend the first few minutes talking about their week and how they are feeling that day. This helps to get a feel for where everyone is at that day, and make sure that they feel heard by someone in their lives. Next, each kid gets to pick a horse to groom and tack. Quite often this becomes one of the most entertaining scenes. It’s always fun to see how each child interacts with their horse and how they understand that this is a necessary activity in order to take care of the horse and in order to ride. Then comes the fun part, riding! They all get to lead their horse to the arena and mount them. The volunteers present are always appreciated, but during this time is where many of them shine. They are the ones that are in charge of leading the horse while the child is mounted. Where you can truly see their impact during this time, though, is through their interactions with the child on the horse they are leading. Each one finds a way to connect with the student and, while their brains are being stimulated by riding, the student gets to gain a personal connection. This activity may seem pointless to those looking in from the outside, but, in truth, this is where we tend to see the most changes among the students.
Not all of our activities involve riding, though. There are some weeks where the kids only groom and simply get to spend time with the horses. Then there are times where we walk to the pond further down the property in search of aquatic animals and to switch up the routine. Recently, we’ve used this time to show them the tadpoles that have been growing, and now each week certain kids will ask about their status whether we are going to the pond or not. Through all of this, Mustard Seed Society’s goal for these days shines through: to teach these amazing young people social skills and independence through interactions with the horses and all of us who think they are pretty special, indeed.
Peggy Haynes
Volunteer
5/08/2019
