The fire, and starting fresh

This entry is part 5 of 9 in the series Practical horses

A series about the training process, thoughts and feelings, and business planning behind our practical horse program at the farm.

Our working model that was just launching last summer with promising results was unraveled when we had the fire. We had supervised horseback riding, trail rides, trail walks accompanied by the horses, a horse body language class taught in their field, an educational tour to meet the rare Arabian horses, and finally our Arabian horse breeding program.

This is the process of sorting through those old plans, taking what still works, discarding what doesn’t, and adding new ideas. All while building trust and partnership with the herd, finding jobs they enjoy and can do.

————————————————————————————————————————————–

I’ve been blogging again. Actually vlogging. East West has started a vlog under the Barakah Heritage Farm patreon account, as the horses are becoming a more important part of the farm.

I popped over here to make that announcement, and to grab links to some old posts for our Patreon readers, and realized that I didn’t write a post about the fire.

Honestly, I prefer not to revisit it in details. It still hurts. It probably always will, if poked at.

Lucky and Nasr and Lacey died.

We buried them in a lovely spot overlooking the pond and hills.

And we have been moving forward. Healing. Always grateful for the lessons, and trusting God. Nothing reaches us except by His permission.

For those that want to fill in the backstory, our old gofundme (donations are closed) and this lovely newspaper article by Lancaster farmer do a good job of telling the story: Despite Tragic Fire, Barakah Farm Continues to Heal, Adapt and Plan for the Future | Agriculture and Tourism Industry | lancasterfarming.com

For those wanting to follow the new vlog posts they are free on Patreon at Barakah Heritage Farm: Purposeful. Practical. Preservation. is creating exclusive insiders-only farm content & personalized gifts. | Patreon

For me, for us at Barakah Heritage Farm, this is the year of the horse. This is the year that we focus on how to make the horses a practical earning facet of the farm, while maintaining their freedom to choose and the conscious horsemanship philosophy. God willing, we will find the path.