Team Evergreen

This fall the Evergreen Barn has been as busy as ever! Not only are we loving and caring for our main herd consisting of 36 saddle horses, but we are also training our Clydesdale team to pull a wagon for hay rides! On an average day in our slower season (starting in November), we as a barn crew are working together to exercise the trail ponies, complete any medical care needed, and work on any barn maintanc(y) things that need getting done. This fall, however, is special because on top of all that other necessary work we love, the barn is allotting a fair amount of time to training our team of Clydesdale. Don't worry though, we still make sure we have time for the saddle horses so that they get adequate exercise and more than enough love. Let us introduce you to our big girls. On the left side of the wagon we drive Irish, and on the right there is April. These two are a mother daughter team that we have been blessed with by donation.

Left side is Irish - Right side is April

We will admit that the beginning of training with these two ladies was a bit rocky and we may not have gotten off on the right hoof so to speak (do you get it?). However, this fall their training has taken off and they are amazing us with their servant hearts and eager spirits. Now these two are taking the barn crew on daily wagon rides to increase their cardio and strength training to better themselves for when the day comes to pull guests on a hay ride. Each week that goes by we notice that these big horses are gaining new muscle and greater endurance to better do their jobs. Recently we have been practising pull the wagon with the general program staff of camp evergreen doing trial wagon rides and so far everyone is loving it.

We have had a number of adventures with these clydes this fall. For instance, one warm day we decided to bath our girls to get all the sweat off of their skin, and it was quite the event to get their huge bodies all soapy! Irish being the baby out of the two, was far less excited for her bath but once she realized how refreshing it was she submitted to it. After our clydes were squeaky clean we gave them most of the afternoon to dry. However their hair was still wet at the end of the day and we did not want to turn them outside all wet to become "horsickles" overnight. So we blow-dried the ladies and April loved the spa experience! This is just one of many memorable adventures we have had with the girls.

Mikeala, our Head Wrangler, with one of our "Girls"

Something that has stood out to the barn over these last few weeks has been the general theme of timing. It's easy to get excited about when the team will be ready and starting asking if the Girls can take a guest group out on the wagon. Or whether they will be ready by thanksgiving or Christmas. All of these questions have admirable goals behind them but it has been apparent to us that this training is on the Clyde's schedule and not necessarily ours. Let me explain, for instance I as a driver in the beginning of training wished the team were at a physical capability point to work for an hour on a hayride. When we started training, April and Irish were not fit enough to work that long. It has been with consistent exercise and training that they now, after two months, are able to work for over an hour pulling the wagon. This is what we have been learning in the barn, that we sometimes have to put our plans for progress on a slower pace than we expected to better the training of the team. We have found this similar to the timing of God in our lives as well. Sometimes we feel that things in our lives need to happen on a certain timing, when God has plans that may take longer or shorter than we expected. It is a happy surprise to the barn that we are learning such a profound lesson on God's timing from our big girls.

Over the next few weeks we will be putting the finishing touches on the girls to fine tune their manners and skills. At the same time as working on training the remainder of the barn staff to become experts with the wagon horses and the wagon itself. So you could say the wagon crew is in training too. The time is soon to come when we take these big girls out for their début. We as a barn are really looking forward to taking guests (that means YOU) out to enjoy these ladies as much as we do. If you could please keep us and our team in your prayers, we would greatly appreciate your love and support.

See you out on the trail!
The Evergreen Barn (written by Kim Green)

Harold likes to avoid the camera. :)