QuailSummitvisits

Quail Summit residents visit Little Church Minis!
July 2007, July 2008, July 2009, July 2010 and July 2011!!
Story and photos for 2007 are first,
then 2008, 2009, 2010 photos follow! ** LInks to 2011 are at the bottom.

What a perfect day. Residents from an assisted living facility came out for a visit. The bus delivered 14 to our house at 1:00. The
Activity Director’s daughter and young grandson came too. For 2 hours we shared our miniatures with them.
The preparations started the day before with Kennedy (my barn buddy and former student) spending the day with me watching
horses at the county fair, and then coming home with me to groom the horses. We finished clipping all halter paths, washed two
tails, and after some vigorous brushing on the others, decided they were good to go, unless it got hot the next day—then we’d bathe
a few. At 9:30 that night I washed out all halters and fly masks and hung them on the line.
Elizabeth, another former student, (my teaching job sure has its benefits!) and Kennedy arrived about 10:00 AM the day of the visit
to help me get ready. Mark, my husband, had already set up 14 chairs in a semi circle under the vast shade of the pine trees. He
moved the picnic table behind the set-up for the treats to be served. Rachel, my daughter, arranged the cookies and crackers in
quilt like fashion on antique tin plates. The girls set up the obstacle course and made up the stalls from the morning cleaning. I
cleaned the pastures again, and got all the horses into the cool barn under fans. They were appreciative since it was hot and
buggy. The heat gave us an excuse to bathe Blessing and Whisper.

Once they were sparkling, we put them in the front pasture to dry. They of
course immediately rolled on the least grassy spot so their sparkles were
hidden under brown dust. So, the girls added more vigorous brushing to their
list of things to do before 1:00. But since the dust had to dry, the girls jumped
into the pool to cool off before lunch.
After eating, they got the sparkle back on the 2-year-old fillies, who waited for
our guests in the front pasture. I haltered the rest in their stalls and got the lead
ropes out. Camera was ready. Rachel had her camera ready, and her friend
had arrived to help. My in-laws had arrived to lend a hand wherever needed. I
made a last minute change in plans to do the whole horse presentation first,
then serve food, rather than have the food out the whole time. It seemed to
make sense. Everyone who was on lemonade duty was notified.

        We paced while we waited for the guests to arrive. The girls said “Wouldn’t it be terrible if they forgot!” I assure them that would
never happen.
  Two minutes later the bus pulled in. “They’re here!” sounded through the gardens and pastures. Everyone gathered around the bus
to lend an elbow to hold as a seat for everyone was found in the semi circle of chairs.
  Once everyone was settled, I gave a brief introduction to my life with miniatures, how and why I got started and how there came to
be 7 in my care. They asked great questions. While they were here, no stone was left unturned as we discussed nutrition, basic daily
care, poop control, mare stare, foaling, working in halter, things one can do with them (showing, driving), height requirements, and
registries. They discovered by watching that miniatures are indeed horses and need to be treated as such. They also learned how
easy it is to fall in love with a miniature.

Then came the horses. The mares and foals were lead out of the barn to the pasture right in front of our guests. Oh the oooos and
ahhhhs. Chloe and Claire were lead to the waiting crowd. One prep detail I never considered is to have the foals take a romp out
of the pasture before they came. They’ve never left the inside of the fences. The color change from grass to driveway really threw
Claire off; we chuckled as she struggled to take the leap onto the stones. Everyone applauded her bravery. Claire was a big hit,
of course. They loved her beauty, her color, her softness, and the fact she’s the farm baby.

Will Claire cross the scary divide?

Next came Gypsy and Rosie. Rosie provided a few bucks for
entertainment. I was very careful to guide her teeth and hooves so no
one got hurt. She was adored. Oh how they raved about her beautiful
face. The driveway gave her less trouble.

"She likes me!"

Once the mares and foals had their moment, we got all
hands busy to switch pastures between the mares and 2-
year-olds. Now it was Blessing’s turn. She was so good, and
allowed many kisses to be planted on her soft muzzle, but
she was itching where her halter laid and it made it difficult
to let her get close for too long.

Say hello, everyone!

That's me talking.

My camera crew doubled once the
foals were back in the pasture.
They got lots of Blessing and
Whisper pictures.

Some feel a miniature's muzzle is
just too soft to resist a kiss.
Thank goodness the horses were
well trained in this area. Ha ha!!!

Blessing demonstrated perfectly
how good she is a walk, trot,
whoa--and why she's my running
buddy!

Whisper’s behavior was a wonderful surprise. She was ever so gentle as
she walked up to each person for pets or kisses. She never shied at the
walkers; I had desensitized them to walkers, but the ones that came
were much different than the one I walked around the pasture with.
One person said she could completely understand how I could fall in
love with these animals just by seeing Whisper’s sweet face.

What worked well
was to first introduce
each horse, then start
at one end with
myself between the
horse and the
resident. I was so
scared of a stepped
on toe, or an
unexpected nip. This
worked well!

There was a lot of
kissing going on at the
end of the line!

Once all the girls were back in pastures, and their halters were replaced with fly masks, half my crew left to get the treats
ready. While the guests were waiting, they asked about Jazz. I’d gone back and forth about bringing him out. If a mare or
filly was in heat, it could be a show, or he could just have a rowdy moment. But, I decided to go for it. He was perfect. He
walked so calmly out and stood regally in front of the group. They thought he was posing for pictures. I was so proud of
him. I didn’t take him from person to person as I had the others for the cookies and lemonade had arrived. Jazz happily
returned to his pasture.
Everyone ate, satisfied their thirst, and chatted. The girls worked the 2-year-olds in the pasture for entertainment. They
trotted them over poles, had them side step and back (well, tried backing), and stand. Then they free lunged them for a few
minutes. The audience loved it!

Rachel and friend serving the goodies.
Below--the groundwork demonstration by
Elizabeth and Kennedy.

Two hours after their arrival, it was time for this most wonderful crowd to load the
bus for home. Many thank-yous were uttered, many hugs were given. They loved
their visit. They said they’d never had anything quite like it and can’t believe how
much they learned. They thought we’d had groups out for years, and were quite
delighted to learn they were the first.
What a beautiful day. Everyone’s heart is happy tonight.
We hope to make it an annual visit.

Cooling off after a job well done! Thanks everyone! You are terrific!

My deep appreciation goes to Rachel , Darryl, Polly Simmons,
and Jan Barnes for taking these awesome photos. The story
wouldn't be the same without their work.