Ryan Trares: Horsin’ around at Hope for Hearts

The miniature black horse poked its snout through the hole in the fence, sniffing with curiosity.

Waiting on the other side was a very excited little boy.

I had a helper this week on one of my reporting assignments for the Daily Journal. A scheduling quirk had created a bit of a challenge for me; my wife had learned that she needed to travel to Maryland for work on Monday, meaning I would need to pick up Anthony from school.

Normally, that’s not a problem. But I had made arrangements for an interview that afternoon at Hope for Hearts Horse Farm. The nonprofit equine-assisted learning program offers activities with horses to provide insight about their thoughts, beliefs and patterns of behavior.

No horseback riding is involved; rather, participants come to the farm just south of Morgantown to take part in a variety of tested and proven activities designed to regulate and stabilize emotions, manage stress, build confidence and self-esteem, develop relationship skills and practice self-care. (Read my story here.)

I had worked with founder Lisa Bowman to come down, see the farm, talk to her and observe a session with Hope for Hearts clients. Postponing the visit would delay the story for weeks, and I didn’t want to do that.

So I asked Anthony if he wanted to tag along with me.

At first, he was annoyed. I was cutting into his after-school opportunity to relax and decompress.

But when he learned we’d be working with horses, his demeanor flipped to extreme excitement. The question came before he went to sleep Sunday night, when he woke up Monday morning, and when I was dropping him off at school.

“I get to see the horses with you, right?”

Driving down to Morgantown, Anthony’s excitement built, even if neither of us knew quite what to expect. We arrived at Hope for Hearts, and he had clambered from the car before I could even open his door.

Whatever he was imagining on the drive down, the experience did not disappoint. While I interviewed Bowman, Anthony sat patiently, half-listening but mostly looking out the window trying to spot a horse.

Afterward, as we went out to the horse pens and pasture, he practically galloped along the driveway. Anthony is shy by nature, but his enthusiasm overcame it.

I did the reporting work I had come to do, talking to riders who had come to Hope for Hearts to work with the horses, snapping photographs and learning about the process of equine-assisted learning. Thankfully, Hope for Hearts’ board member Angie Sparks offered to walk Anthony around to meet the horses.

As I learned later (in great detail), he got to meet Pegasus, a light-colored horse that reminded him of a unicorn. Pegasus had recently had three teeth pulled, and had to be in a pasture by himself because he couldn’t eat hay, Anthony told me.

There were other horses, such as Rizzo and Dixie and Rosie. A tiny goat who followed the horses around the pasture would watch him with a weary eye.

But Anthony’s favorite was the miniature horse, Leo. The furry black animal was even shorter than him, and from the moment Anthony walked up to the pen, they had a connection. He stood there, gently patting the horse’s head with a smile that filled his face.

Even after I was finished with my interviews, Anthony wanted one last chance to say goodbye. He gave Leo a pat, then skip-galloped up the slope toward our car.

On the drive home, all he could talk about was horses. He filled me in on all of the horses’ names and personalities. He asked me questions about horses, and I tried my best to answer them.

I’ve reported on countless things in my 21 years as a professional journalist, meeting some fascinating people and covering once-in-a-lifetime events.

But after having Anthony by my side, and seeing his excitement in sharing my job with him there’s no contest — Hope for Hearts Horse Farm was the best assignment I’ve had.

Ryan Trares is a senior reporter and columnist for the Daily Journal in Franklin. Send comments to [email protected].