DJ Mermaid rides Horses? Who knew?!
by DJ Mermaid
My life isn’t a Western cowgirl movie where girls get to ride around on horses screaming like dying banshees. I do have Walk On Farm to my advantage though.
DJ Mermaid rides!
Walk On is a horse riding farm hubbub dedicated to helping Americans with cognitive and physical disabilities. I have been riding Equestrian-English Style on their lovable horses since I was about three years old.
My favorite — not that we are picking sides here — is Foxy. Though you might think he is a Palomino because of his name, he is actually a brown Appalachian Mountain Horse with white spots.
Riding lessons isn’t all Walk On Farm has to offer, though. They also offer a horse grooming class right before my lesson. You really get to know the horses and where all of the equipment goes on the horses. That is very important for when you go to represent Walk On at the county fair 3 years in a ROW!!!!!!!!
I don’t usually ride Foxy during these events because he isn’t a new horse. I ride another horse named Rocky (who is equally as handsome). Cuteness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Walk On has a great team of people who help me there. Mary Illing, the program director, is SUPER NICE and really cares about her horses and her participants. Walk On has many volunteers who act as “side-walkers” and “leaders.” A side-walker is someone who walks along with the horse and rider to make sure the horse doesn’t buck (a kick so strong an untrained rider would fall off like eraser shreds on a paper) or try any other antics. A leader is someone who leads the horse other than the rider.
Walk On has many fun games to play while we are riding. Some of them include “Red Light, Green Light” and “Horse Hangman.” Walk On is a very fun stable and program to participate in.
That’s the end of my 5th post!
Walk On sounds like a really fun place! DJ, you’d prolly put all of us to shame. Again, You Go, Girl!
Hi Yo Foxy! Keep on riding – and writing! Enjoying your posts, D.J. Mermaid!
Thanks! I will!
Great writing, DJ! Your expression of your life’s adventures and strong, positive perspectives is truly inspiring (all from only a 9yr old??!!). “You go, girl!” really expresses all our wishes for your continued participation in them, along with the learning and fun you bring to us all from them. May you always keep up that happy, no bounds spirit!
Thank you!
Love your blog DJMermaid!
DJ Mermaid, did you ask Beth, “When was the last time you rode a horse?” Shades of Annie Oakley and Dale Evans, I see the two of you as modern cowgirls. Only difference is you’ve traded those wonderful felt hats for helmets. You are amazingly brave in addition to smart, inspiring and fearless. Thanks.
I can weigh in on this one — during our time together Friday DJ Mermaid and I did in fact talk about my last ride on a horse. Turned out to be my *only* time on a horse, and that ride occurred when I was about her age. I was a nine-year-old Girl Scout, I could still see, our troop went to a horse stable, I was helped up onto a horse and was scared to death. Up wayyyyy too high for my liking. DJM is far more courageous than I was at her age.
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Thank you for the compliments Mel!
She is more courageous than I am too. I never rode a horse I wasn’t scared of
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